Controlling Catalytic Selectivity on Metal Nanoparticles By Direct Photoexcitation of Adsorbate-Metal Bonds

We show that the use of <5nm metal particles as photocatalysts enables direct photoexcitation of hybridized adsorbate-metal states as the dominant mechanism driving chemistry. These results introduce a novel approach to control catalytic processes, whereby the energy of a photon flux is funneled into the activation targeted chemical bonds.