•Heterostructures are prepared.•They exhibit photocatalytic activity.•SPR is confirmed by transient absorption and photocurrent.Light-induced charge transfer is one of the key factors to affect photocatalytic activity of heterostructures. Significantly, in metal/semiconductor (M/S) heterostructures the direction of charge transfer is relevant to irradiation wavelength in terms of optical transition of semiconductor and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of metal. To understand the fundamental photophysical process, herein, we developed a facile double-solvothermal route for fabrication of plasmonic/nonplasmonic-metal/TiO2 composites with the aid of glycine. Upon UV–visible-light illumination, occurrence of light absorption in plasmonic-metal/TiO2 composites is originated from optical transition of TiO2 (UV region) and SPR of plasmonic metal (Au, Ag and Cu, visible region), accounting for reverse charge transfer between them confirmed by transient absorption and photocurrent. Albeit small contribution of SPR effect to photo-generated electrons due to ultrafast electron-phonon scattering, the reverse charge transfer can alleviate photocatalytic performance of these heterostructures to enhance. Hence, well understanding the intrinsic photocatalytic mechanism offers a reliable support to selective construction of sophisticated M/S heterostructure-related polynary photocatalytic systems with high activity.

We have provided a small molecule-assisted heterogeneous nucleation of MOF route to successfully synthesize Au@UiO-66(NH2) heterostructures. UiO-66(NH2) with a localized electronic state that was characterized by C-AFM exhibited higher photocatalytic activity in the heterostructures via a plasmonic sensitization process.

We employed ZIF-8 rhombic dodecahedra and nanocubes as catalysts to obtain insights into the surface catalysis of MOFs based on facet-dependent catalytic activity for Knoevenagel condensation. The location of catalytic reactions was identified by using spiky Au@ZIF-8 single-core structures as surface-enhanced Raman scattering active substrates for aldehyde detection.

Herein, we present aggregation-induced surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-active hierarchical structures that effectively capture guest species loading in hollow nanocaged materials. The developed SERS-active probe by in situ aggregation was constructed of porous Au@ZnS multi-yolk–shell structures derived from Au@ZIF-8 multi-core–shell structure precursors. The porous ZnS shells characterized by nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherm enable guest species such as hydrophobic 4-MBA and hydrophilic R6G molecules to shuttle based on their size. As a result of effective localization of the electric field by engineering hotspots in metallic aggregates, the intensity of these SERS reporter molecules adsorbed on Au NPs exhibited a dramatic enhancement during aggregation of Au NPs induced by electrolyte. Although the aggregation of Au NPs was able to be characterized by TEM and the change of plasmonic band from UV-vis absorption, some guest species that were incapable of inducing assembly of Au NPs were difficult to identify by both techniques. After taking into consideration other factors, including the sequence of guest species and incubation time, the variation of SERS signals related to individual Au NPs and their aggregates was applied to visualization of different types of molecules with Raman activity and ion loading in porous nanocages.

Nitrogen (N)-doped graphitic carbons with one-dimensional hollow/porous structures were synthesized via a sacrificial template of CdTe@ZIF-8 nanofibers. The N-doped graphitic carbons exhibited better electrocatalytic activity for ORR based on higher diffusion-limited current density and more positive half-wave potential as compared to carbons derived from ZIF-8.

We explored the use of PVP-Au NPs as nucleation seeds for zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) to selectively synthesize Au@ZIF-8 single- or multi-core–shell structures by epitaxial growth or coalescence of nuclei. Photocatalytic oxidation of benzyl alcohol was studied based on LSPR-induced light absorption.

We have provided a small molecule-assisted heterogeneous nucleation of MOF route to successfully synthesize Au@UiO-66(NH2) heterostructures. UiO-66(NH2) with a localized electronic state that was characterized by C-AFM exhibited higher photocatalytic activity in the heterostructures via a plasmonic sensitization process.

We employed ZIF-8 rhombic dodecahedra and nanocubes as catalysts to obtain insights into the surface catalysis of MOFs based on facet-dependent catalytic activity for Knoevenagel condensation. The location of catalytic reactions was identified by using spiky Au@ZIF-8 single-core structures as surface-enhanced Raman scattering active substrates for aldehyde detection.

We explored the use of PVP-Au NPs as nucleation seeds for zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) to selectively synthesize Au@ZIF-8 single- or multi-core–shell structures by epitaxial growth or coalescence of nuclei. Photocatalytic oxidation of benzyl alcohol was studied based on LSPR-induced light absorption.