Developments on carbon dioxide reduction: Their promise, achievements, and challenges

CO2 reduction processes continue to be developed for electro-synthesis, energy storage applications, and environmental remediation. A number of promising materials have shown high activity and selectivity to target reduction products. However, the progress has been mainly at a small laboratory scale, and the technical challenges of large scale CO2 reduction have not been considered adequately. This review covers recent advancements in catalyst materials and cell designs. The leading materials for CO2 reduction to a number of useful products are presented with their corresponding cell and reactor designs. The latest efforts to progress to industrially relevant scales are discussed, along with the challenges that must be met for carbon dioxide reduction to be a viable route for mass scale production.