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The conversion of CO₂ into e-fuels by light offers a sustainable solution to close the carbon cycle. Researchers at the Laboratory for Nanometallurgy have pioneered an innovative approach to plasmon-assisted catalytic CO₂ conversion using nanoscale disordered network metamaterials.

These truly-scalable advanced materials create a unique plasmonic environment, characterized by a high local density of optical states and an exceptional concentration of hotspots. This enables the efficient localization of light in ultra-small volumes, enhancing the catalytic process.

In their study, they successfully demonstrated the catalytic conversion of CO₂ into carbon monoxide and methane—valuable chemical building blocks with potential applications in the production of e-fuels. The approach also offers the ability to fine-tune catalytic selectivity by adjusting the chemical composition of the plasmonic network, providing new opportunities to optimize and scale catalytic reactions across a variety of applications.

The research is now in Nano Letters.