Recent Progress in Surface and Interface Engineering for Electrocatalytic CO2 Reduction

Abstract

The conversion of CO₂ through CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂ RR) into valuable products has potential to lessen the greenhouse effect caused by uncontrolled CO₂ emissions. Challenges of CO₂ RR reaction lie in the stabilization of the reaction intermediate and the activation of the inert chemical bond of CO₂ , but the application of CO₂ RR at large scale is limited by the high cost and structural instability of traditional catalysts. By applying CO₂ RR catalyst with delicate structure of stable CO₂ intermediate to industrial production, the problems such as high cost of CO₂ conversion, low catalytic selectivity and poor catalytic efficiency can be effectively solved, showing better application value and significance than traditional catalysts. This review focuses on the defects, and metal-support interaction (MSI) effect to modify the catalyst and other strategies to enhance the effectiveness of CO₂ reduction. The challenges and prospects from the three perspectives are also discussed to provide suggestions for the designing of efficient CO₂ RR catalysts in the future. This review offers new insights and research perspectives of reducing CO₂ emission through recycling CO₂ , and neutralizing the carbon cycle.

Keywords: CO2 reduction; CO2RR; Defects; Electrocatalytic CO2 reduction; MSI effect.