Solar driven CO2 reduction: from materials to devices

Solar driven CO2 reduction for the production of fuels and chemicals is a promising technology for achieving carbon neutrality. Photocatalytic CO2 reduction, photoelectrochemical CO2 reduction and photovoltaic-electrochemical CO2 reduction, are three main approaches for solar driven CO2 reduction that have attracted a lot of interest in both the academic and industrial communities. However, in spite of the decades of work that have been devoted to this research area, low solar to fuel efficiency, poor product selectivity and unsatisfactory stability continue to impede the application of these three technologies. Herein, we summarize the recent advances in photo-absorbers, catalysts and device designs for solar driven CO2 reduction and have identified the following requirements that are essential for realizing a highly efficient solar driven CO2 reduction system: optimized photo-absorbers, tailored catalysts, well-designed devices and the synergistic operation of these three parts. In addition, we provide perspectives for the future development of the solar driven CO2 reduction field.