Harvesting More Energetic Photoexcited Electrons from Closely Packed Gold Nanoparticles

The characterization of photoexcited electrons on the surface of nanomaterial remains challenging. Herein, laser excitation mass spectrometry combined with a chemical thermometer and electron acceptor has been developed to characterize the energetics and population density of photoexcited electrons transferred from gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). In contrast to laser fluence and bias voltage, the hot spots of closely packed AuNPs play a more significant role in enhancing the average energetics of photoexcited electrons, which can be harvested effectively by the electron acceptor. By harvesting more energetic photoexcited electrons for the desorption and ionization process, it is anticipated that the sensitive detection of biomarkers can be achieved, which is beneficial to metabolomic studies and early disease diagnosis.