Recent progress on advanced design for photoelectrochemical reduction of CO2 to fuels

The energy crisis and global warming become severe issues. Solar-driven CO2 reduction provides a promising route to confront the predicaments, which has received much attention. The photoelectrochemical (PEC) process, which can integrate the merits of both photocatalysis and electrocatalysis, boosts splendid talent for CO2 reduction with high efficiency and excellent selectivity. Recent several decades have witnessed the overwhelming development of PEC CO2 reduction. In this review, we attempt to systematically summarize the recent advanced design for PEC CO2 reduction. On account of basic principles and evaluation parameters, we firstly highlight the subtle construction for photocathodes to enhance the efficiency and selectivity of CO2 reduction, which includes the strategies for improving light utilization, supplying catalytic active sites and steering reaction pathway. Furthermore, diversiform novel PEC setups are also outlined. These exploited setups endow a bright window to surmount the intrinsic disadvantages of photocathode, showing promising potentials for future applications. Finally, we underline the challenges and key factors for the further development of PEC CO2 reduction that would enable more efficient designs for setups and deepen systematic understanding for mechanisms.