Recent progress on synthesis and application of plasmonic metal heterostructures

In the past decade, plasmonic metal heterostructures have been widely studied for their unique plasmon-enhanced effects and synergistic effects between different constituents. The intriguing properties of plasmonic metal heterostructures arise from the synergistic and/or complementary interactions of their components, as well as the nanoscale interfaces between different materials. In addition, plasmonic metal heterostructures exhibit interesting optical and catalytic properties depending on their composition, shape, size, and architecture. This review provides an overview of the recent progress on the synthesis of plasmonic metal heterostructures including core-shell, core-satellites, Janus, and other typical structures, and then introduces some of the latest applications including surface-enhanced Raman scattering, sensing, and electrocatalysis of these plasmonic metal heterostructures. Finally, the challenges and prospects for the development of novel high-performance plasmonic metal heterostructures in the future are presented.