Progress of Nb-containing catalysts for carbon dioxide reduction: a minireview

Nb-containing catalysts have the potential to catalyze carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) reduction due to their strong surface acidity and CO 2 activation sites. Still, they have not been widely used in the development and design of catalysts due to the theoretical/cost/safety limitations. Related advances have been continuously reported in the literature, demonstrating to some extent the promise of catalytic applications of Nb-containing catalysts in this area. In this minireview, we discuss the structure–activity relationships of Nb-containing catalysts for photo-, electro-, and thermocatalytic reduction of CO 2 . The engineering strategies of Nb-containing catalysts for enhancing the conversion and selectivity of CO 2 reduction are discussed, ranging from Nb doping, noble metal decoration, surface acidity adjustment, oxygen vacancy engineering, and heterojunction construction to Nb or Nb 2 O 5 particle decoration. The theoretical calculation research for the possible reaction paths and product selectivity is also discussed. Finally, the prospects for designing and optimizing Nb-containing catalysts are proposed. With a deep understanding of catalytic activity and reaction mechanism, this minireview is expected to present the optimization of the Nb-containing catalysts for efficient and highly selective CO 2 reduction.