Recent advancements and perspectives of the CO2 hydrogenation reaction

Abstract

Owing to excessive carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, which cause severe environmental issues, the conversion and utilization of CO₂ have received increasing attention. Owing to its high efficiency and potential for industrial applications, converting CO₂ into high value-added chemicals via thermocatalytic hydrogenation is a highly effective route among electrocatalytic, photocatalytic, and thermocatalytic CO₂ conversion. In the past two decades, our group has developed novel CO₂ hydrogenation technologies to produce chemicals such as aliphatic hydrocarbons, methanol (MeOH), ethanol, and aromatics (especially para-xylene, PX). In this review, we summarize the strategy for CO₂ hydrogenation conversion and the novel rational design of catalysts, including low-temperature MeOH synthesis and capsule catalysts for tandem catalysis. We also discuss the challenges and opportunities of CO₂ hydrogenation, such as CO₂ capture, H₂ prices, and carbon taxes. We hope to inspire new ideas for CO₂ hydrogenation to produce high value-added chemicals through the design of catalysts and the exploration of reaction paths.