Could Metamaterials be the Next Frontier of Catalysis?

Plasmonic catalysis, whereby either an optically resonating metal couples to a catalytic material or a catalytic metal particle achieves optical resonance, has been a mainstay of photo-catalysis research for the past few decades. However, a new field of metal-dielectric metamaterials, including plasmonic metamaterials, is emerging as the next frontier in catalysis research. With new optical behaviors that can be achieved by sub-wavelength structures, in either periodic or semi-periodic arrangements, metamaterials can overcome some of the limitations of conventional plasmonic catalysis. This review lays out the results of various metamaterial catalysis demonstrations associated with broadband optical absorption, thermal engineering, anapole resonances and bound in continuum states. This work also discusses emerging metamaterial technologies that can be incorporated into catalysis, such as magnetic concentrators, 2D material-integrated metamaterial hybrids and colloidal metamaterials. In order for metamaterials to be economically viable, some of the methods to fabricate metamaterial structures on planar surfaces are also discussed. With these unique unnatural advantages and an on-going drive to lower fabrication costs, electro-magnetically driven metamaterials can be a promising approach to enabling efficient catalysis toward green fuel production.