Two-dimensional-related catalytic materials for solar-driven conversion of COx into valuable chemical feedstocks.

The discovery of improved chemical processes for CO and CO₂ hydrogenation to valuable hydrocarbon fuels and alcohols is of paramount importance for the chemical industry. Such technologies have the potential to reduce anthropogenic CO₂ emissions by adding value to a waste stream, whilst also reducing our consumption of fossil fuels. Current thermal catalytic technologies available for CO and CO₂ hydrogenation are demanding in terms of energy input. Various alternative technologies are now being developed for CO_x hydrogenation, with solar-driven processes over two-dimensional (2D) and 2D-related composite materials being particularly attractive due to the abundance of solar energy on Earth and also the high selectivity of defect-engineered 2D materials towards specific valuable products under very mild reaction conditions. This review showcases recent advances in the solar-driven CO_x reduction to hydrocarbons over 2D-based materials. Optimization of 2D catalyst performance demands interdisciplinary research that embraces catalyst electronic structure manipulation and morphology control, surface/interface engineering, reactor engineering and density functional theory modelling studies. Through improved understanding of the structure–performance relationships in 2D-related catalysts which is achievable through the application of modern in situ characterization techniques, practical photo/photothermal/photoelectrochemical technologies for CO and CO₂ reduction to high-valuable products such as olefins could be realized in the not-too-distant future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]