Catalysis of Carbon Dioxide Photoreduction on Nanosheets: Fundamentals and Challenges

The transformation of CO2 into fuels and chemicals by photocatalysis is a promising strategy to provide a long-term solution to mitigating global warming and energy-supply problems. Achievements in photocatalysis during the last decade have sparked increased interest in using sunlight to reduce CO2. Traditional semiconductors used in photocatalysis (e.g. TiO2) are not suitable for use in natural sunlight and their performance is not sufficient even under UV irradiation. Some two-dimensional (2D) materials have recently been designed for the catalytic reduction of CO2. These materials still require significant modification, which is a challenge when designing a photocatalytic process. An overarching aim of this Review is to summarize the literature on the photocatalytic conversion of CO2 by various 2D materials in the liquid phase, with special attention given to the development of novel 2D photocatalyst materials to provide a basis for improved materials.