Multiscale modeling of molecular nanoplasmonics: from protein sequencing to photocatalysis

Molecular nanoplasmonics deals with the interaction between molecules and nanostructures able to support plasmonic excitations. Starting originally from the investigation of phenomena such as surface enhanced Raman scattering of small molecules on rough electrodes, it evolved into a field rich of fundamental questions and technological potential. Tackling these questions and providing a rational basis for developing applications requires dealing with the intrinsic multiscale nature of the systems involved. They in fact mix molecules, whose properties can be described by atomistic approaches, with nanostructures tens/hundreds of nm in size, too large for standard quantum chemistry treatments. In this seminar, I will present our work on developing and applying multiscale models [1] for such systems. In particular, to show the variety of challenges to be dealt with and the ways to tackle them, I will focus on investigations related to the possible use of plasmonic nanopores to optically sequencing proteins [2] and consider then the problem of photocatalysis by plasmon-generated hot carriers[3].
[1] B. Mennucci and S. Corni, Nat. Rev. Chem. 3, 315 (2019).
[2] M. Vanzan, A. Migliore, M. Blanco, F. De Angelis, S. Corni, submitted
[3] G. Dall’Osto et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 146, 2208 (2024).