Research Progress in Photothermal Catalytic Reduction of CO2 to Carbon-Containing Compounds

Purposes Carbon dioxide capture and utilization is a choice to alleviate the greenhouse effect and address the energy crisis. In order to promote the reaction under more mild conditions, photothermal catalysis is used to reduce CO2 with the advantages of photocatalysis and thermal catalysis. Thermal energy is generated by photothermal materials (self-heating) or external heat sources. Methods This paper focuses on photothermal catalysis based on photothermal effect (self-heating). Findings At present, the main problems of photothermal catalytic reduction of CO2 to carbon-containing compounds lie in the difficult adsorption and activation of CO2, poor product selectivity and poor photothermal effect. This review summarizes the definition, principle and advantages of photothermal catalysis, focusing on the analysis and summary of strategies to improve the performance of photothermal catalytic reduction of CO2 from the aspects of reaction thermodynamics, reaction path, factors affecting photothermal effect and catalyst modification. The factors that affect the photothermal effect are summarized in detail, including the photoresponse range of the catalyst, the light intensity, the heat storage capacity of the catalyst and the plasmon resonance effect of the metal. Conclusions Future studies should focus on strategies to improve CO2 conversion and product selectivity by using the thermal effect of photoheating, and improve the photothermal conversion efficiency and product selectivity by regulating the morphology and reaction path of the catalyst, so as to realize the industrial application of photothermal catalysis.