The demonstrations of visible-light-driven chemical transformations on plasmonic metal nanostructures have led to the emergence of a new field in heterogeneous catalysis known as plasmonic catalysis. The excitement surrounding plasmonic catalysis stems from the ability to use the excitation of energetic charge carriers (as opposed to heat) to drive surface chemistry. This offers the opportunity to potentially discover new, more selective reaction pathways that cannot be accessed in temperature-driven catalysis. In this Review, we provide a fundamental overview of plasmonic catalysis with emphasis on recent advancements in the field. It is our objective to stress the importance of the underlying physical mechanisms at play in plasmonic catalysis and discuss possibilities and limitations in the field guided by these physical insights.

在等离激元金属纳米结构上可见光驱动的化学转变的演示导致了非均相催化新领域的出现，这种新领域被称为等离激元催化。围绕等离激元催化的兴奋源于使用高能电荷载流子（与热相反）的激发来驱动表面化学的能力。这提供了潜在发现新的，更具选择性的反应路径的机会，而这些路径在温度驱动的催化中是无法访问的。在这篇综述中，我们提供了等离子体激元催化的基本概述，重点是该领域的最新进展。我们的目标是强调在等离子体激元催化中起作用的基本物理机制的重要性，并在这些物理见解的指导下讨论该领域的可能性和局限性。