Towards artificial photosynthesis: Sustainable hydrogen utilization for photocatalytic reduction of CO2 to high-value renewable fuels

Abstract

Converting solar energy into fuel via photo-assisted water splitting to generate H-2 or drive CO2 photoreduction is an attractive scientific and technological goal to address the increasing global demand for energy and to reduce the impact of energy production on climate change. Solar-driven hydrogenation of CO2 into value-added chemical products is one of the most promising strategies for reducing CO2 and is anticipated to be a sustainable energy source shortly. In this study, we focus on the utilization of different sustainable H-2 sources for the photoreduction of CO2 to value-added organic products. Various photocatalysts, photoreactor configurations, and reaction parameters for the photoreduction of CO(2 )are discussed. For future research endeavors, a general approach for the photoreduction of CO2 to mimic natural photosynthesis, in which the H-2 source is provided directly during the photocatalytic water splitting, is proposed and verified to generate value-added organic products successfully.