Take it from a (former) chemist: Catalysts can change the kinetics (rate) of a reaction, but they can’t change the thermodynamics. Energy in will (at best!) equal energy out, no matter how you do it.
“Catalysts can change the kinetics (rate) of a reaction, but they can’t change the thermodynamics.”
Thanks for reminding me, it’s been awhile since I’ve taken those courses back in college. Energy input will be higher than energy output as long as mass is conserved, but I was attempting to imagine some sort of catalytic reaction which would initiate the loss of some mass during separation that could be used to drive the reaction forward beyond what the energy inputted would do, thus some of the mass being converted into energy like what happens in a fusion reaction, something that probably isn’t possible according to current science. Oh well.