Heterogeneous catalysts for catalytic CO2 conversion into value-added chemicals

As climate change becomes increasingly evident, reducing greenhouse gases including CO2 has received growing attention. Because CO2 is thermodynamically very stable, its conversion into value-added chemicals such as CO, CH4, or C2H4 is difficult, and developing efficient catalysts for CO2 conversion is important work. CO2 can be converted using the gas-phase reaction, liquid-phase reaction, photocatalytic reaction, or electrochemical reaction. The gas-phase reaction includes the dry reforming of methane using CO2 and CH4, or CO2 hydrogenation using CO2 and H2. The liquid-phase reaction includes formic acid formation from pressurized CO2 and H2 in aqueous solution. The photocatalytic reaction is commonly known as artificial photo-synthesis, and produces chemicals from CO2 and H2O under light irradiation. The electrochemical reaction can produce chemicals from CO2 and H2O using electricity. In this review, the heterogeneous catalysts used for the gas-phase reaction or electrochemical reactions are discussed, because the liquid-phase reaction and photocatalytic reaction typically suffer from low productivity and poor durability. Because the gas-phase reaction requires a high reaction temperature of > 600 °C, obtaining good durability is important. The strategies for designing catalysts with good activity and durability will be introduced. Various materials have been tested for electrochemical conversion, and it has been shown that specific metals can produce specific products, such as Au or Ag for CO, Sn or Bi for formate, Cu for C2H4. Other unconventional catalysts for electrochemical CO2 reduction are also introduced.