Hierarchical Control of Plasmonic Nanochemistry in Microreactor.

A microreactor which can confine chemical reactions exclusively in tiny vessels with the volume of ~ 0.015 μm3 is introduced. Aluminum inversed hollow nanocone arrays (IHNAs) are fabricated by a simple and efficient colloidal lithography method. Ag and Au nanoparticles (NPs), as well as polypyrrole grow exclusively in the conic cavities under light illumination. The photocatalytic effect arising from the plasmonic enhanced electric fields (E-fields) of IHNAs boosts the reactions and in charge of the submicron site-selectivity. By inhibiting light to IHNAs partially, various hierarchical patterns at the macro-, micro-, and submicro-scale are obtained, inspiring a facile patterning technique by varying light source. In addition, the Al IHNA films are transferred to flexible and curved substrates with unchanged performances, showing high flexibility for wide applications. The microreactors based on the IHNAs will contribute to the control of chemical reactions at different dimensions and offer great potentials in developing novel nanofabrication techniques.