Electrocatalytic and photocatalytic sustainable conversion of carbon dioxide to value-added chemicals: State-of-the-art progress, challenges, and future directions

CO2 conversion/utilization is a promising approach for accomplishing two objectives: using the single strategy of CO2 reduction to value-added chemicals and solar fuels to mitigate global warming and meeting the growing energy demands. CO2 reduction is kinetically and thermodynamically sluggish process; therefore, catalysts are always required for accelerating the reduction process. In the recent decades, the booming research studies on heterogeneously catalyzed CO2 reduction has sprung up. Therefore, a critical review on catalytic CO2 reduction and the recent progress in catalysts design is highly needed. This review presents a panorama of the recent progress in electrocatalytic, and photo driven CO2 conversion to value-added chemicals. Moreover, the recent research accomplishments in product selective catalysis are comprehensively reviewed. Lastly, a brief perspective on the challenges and future directions is presented, which could be of great interest for enhancing the activity and selectivity of CO2 reduction reactions and commercialization of CO2 conversion approaches.