Turning CO2 into treasure: the promise of metal–organic frameworks

Abstract

CO₂ is considered the primary contributor to greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and is responsible for several global environmental and energy-related disasters, causing serious concerns because of its adverse impacts on the deterioration of the global ecosystem. Thus, it is now crucial to develop efficient strategies for capturing CO₂ and its conversion into desired products. It is anticipated that this will greatly improve the stability of the ecosystem and encourage sustainable expansion in the energy industry. In this case, metal organic frameworks (MOFs) are becoming increasingly popular nowadays as a result of their appealing features including large internal surface area, structural homogeneity, and flexible porosity. This review critically examines the current advancements and real-world applications of metal–organic frameworks for CO₂ fixation and its conversion into useful chemical products. Considering this, the contemporary trends and developments in CO₂ conversion into cyclic carbonates, formic acid, olefins, methane, carbon monoxide, heterocycles, etc. via cycloaddition, hydrogenation and carboxylation processes are comprehensively deliberated.