Organic and Non‐Precious Metal Photosensitizers for Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction

Abstract

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the primary greenhouse gas responsible for global warming, posing a significant challenge to the global environment. To reduce CO2 emission and support the sustainable development, efficient conversion of CO2 into chemical feedstocks has gained a lot of attention. One promising strategy inspired by natural photosynthesis is solar‐driven CO2 reduction, which uses appropriate photocatalytic systems to generate CO, HCOOH, CH4, CH3OH, etc. However, developing low‐cost, environmentally friendly, and non‐toxic materials for the catalytic conversion of CO2 remains a significant challenge. Light‐absorbing photosensitizers play an important role in photocatalytic systems. Recently, non‐precious metal photosensitizers such as organic compounds and earth‐abundant metal complexes have been intensively studied for developing low‐cost photocatalytic systems. This review focuses on recent reports on organic and non‐precious metal photosensitizers for photocatalytic CO2 reduction.