Recent progress in plasmonic hybrid photocatalysis for CO₂ photoreduction and c–c coupling reactions

Plasmonic hybrid nanostructures have been investigated as attractive heterogeneous photocatalysts that can utilize sunlight to produce valuable chemicals. In particular, the efficient photoconversion of CO₂ into a stable hydrocarbon with sunlight can be a promising strategy to achieve a sustainable human life on Earth. The next step for hydrocarbons once obtained from CO₂ is the carbon–carbon coupling reactions to produce a valuable chemical for energy storage or fine chemicals. For these purposes, plasmonic nanomaterials have been widely investigated as a visible-light-induced photocatalyst to achieve increased efficiency of photochemical reactions with sunlight. In this review, we discuss recent achievements involving plasmonic hybrid photocatalysts that have been investigated for CO and CO₂ photoreductions to form multi-carbon products and for C–C coupling reactions, such as the Suzuki–Miyaura coupling reactions.