Porous carbon materials for CO2 capture, storage and electrochemical conversion

Abstract

Continuous accumulation and emission into the atmosphere of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO₂), a major greenhouse gas, has been recognized as a primary contributor to climate change associated with the global warming and acidification of oceans. This has led to drastic changes in the natural ecosystem, and hence an unhealthy ecological environment for human society. Thus, the effective mitigation of the ever increasing CO₂ emission has been recognized as the most important global challenge. To achieve zero carbon footprint, novel materials and approaches are required for potentially reducing the CO₂ release, while our current fossil-fuel-based energy must be replaced by renewable energy free from emissions. In this paper, porous carbons with hierarchical pore structures are promising for CO₂ adsorption and electrochemical CO₂ reduction owing to their high specific surface area, excellent catalytic performance, low cost and long-term stability. Since efficient gas-phased (electro)catalysis involves the access of reactants to active sites at the gas-liquid-solid triple phase, the hierarchical porous carbon materials possess multiple advantages for various CO₂-related applications with enhanced volumetric and gravimetric activities (e.g., CO₂ uptake and current density) for practical operations. Recent studies have demonstrated that porous carbon materials exhibited notable activities as CO₂ adsorbents and provided facile conducting pathways and mass diffusion channels for efficient electrochemical CO₂ reduction even under the high current operation conditions. Herein, we summarize recent advances in porous carbon materials for CO₂ capture, storage, and electrochemical conversion. Prospectives and challenges on the rational design of porous carbon materials for scalable and practical CO₂ capture and conversion are also discussed.