Continuous-Flow Fabry-Pérot Cavity for Enhanced Catalysis via Cooperative Vibrational Strong Coupling

Polaritonic chemistry, which manipulates chemical and material properties using hybrid light–matter states formed by placing reactants in a vibration-tuned Fabry–Pérot (FP) cavity, has attracted significant interest. However, traditional FP cavities face challenges, such as restricted storage space and difficulties in sampling. In this work, a continuous-flow FP cavity coupled with real-time spectroscopy monitoring was constructed, and a demonstration of the flow-speed retention effect and the effect of placing cavities in series was investigated. The hydrolysis rate of 4-nitrophenyl octanoate (PNPO) was significantly increased under the cooperative vibrational strong coupling (VSC) effect between the reactant and solvent molecules. The VSC catalytic effect markedly reduced the reaction enthalpy of activation, implying that the hybrid light–matter states lowered the energy barrier of the transition state. The conversion rate of the PNPO hydrolysis reaction increases nonlinearly with an increase in the residence time. This work offers a new design rationale for reactors utilizing VSC in chemical production, demonstrating its great potential for industrial applications.