Progress and prospect of CO2 photocatalytic reduction to methanol

With the accelerated process of industrial modernization, the continuous emission of CO2 seriously disrupts the natural carbon balance and contributes to global warming. To reverse this effect, CO2 photocatalytic reduction has received increasing attention. Among various value-added products converted from CO2, methanol has been regarded as an excellent fuel alternative and desired energy storage form. This review summarizes the different catalytic materials explored for CO2 photocatalytic conversion to methanol, and briefly describes the primary designing strategies for photocatalysts. Meanwhile, the fundamentals and mechanism of CO2 photocatalytic reduction to methanol are briefly discussed. And the development course of CO2 photocatalytic reduction to methanol has been attempted to organize. Furthermore, the paper tries to sort out the basic types of photocatalytic reaction systems with methanol as the product, and compares photocatalysis with other technologies that target CO2 conversion to methanol. Finally, this work ends with the conclusions of the CO2 photocatalytic reduction to methanol, and makes prospects for future development.