Superblackbody Metasurface Activates CO ₂ Vibrational Mode for Enhanced Selectivity in CO ₂ Reduction

dissociation toward CO formation. Minimizing CO adsorbate stretching suppresses hydrogenation pathways that proceed through formate intermediate and subsequent methanation. Overall, the engineering of the metasurface thermal dipole-induced field coupling with confinement or radiative channels, modulated by emission spatial distribution, can independently activate reactant molecules above the surface while favoring the surface for desorption of products. This shows a physically driven approach to catalysis by decoupling the surface activation and desorption counteractions.