Metal-organic Frameworks and MOF-based Materials for Photocatalytic CO₂ Reduction

Owing to the undeniable emission of anthropogenic CO2 emission into the atmosphere, the world has witnessed a continuous upsurge in the issue of global warming and energy insecurity. Numerous efforts have been adopted to alleviate these crises, but the most viable method is converting CO2 into value-added chemicals or fuels. Considering the cleanness of solar energy and the corresponding renewable energy sources, various novel classes of metal-organic framework materials were developed for CO2 photoreduction to energy-rich chemicals. This has made the study into different MOFs and MOF-based photocatalysts remain the hottest topics to date. The uniqueness of MOF materials over other photocatalysts includes their exceptional compositions, tuneability, larger surface areas, higher porosities, homometallic/heterometallic cluster as a secondary building unit, and diverse structural uniqueness. The development of these MOFs and MOF-based photocatalysts is essential to overcome the large and intrinsic thermodynamic barriers. Based on the considerable interest in these photocatalysts for CO2 reduction (CO2R), this chapter began with a brief insight into fundamental principles of photocatalysis, the process of photocatalytic conversion of CO2, thermodynamics aspects of CO2 photoreduction, mechanisms, and kinetics behind the photocatalytic CO2R. We further highlight some progress and the associated challenges with the applicability of MOFs and MOF-based photocatalysts for CO2R into energy-rich chemicals. Despite some challenges and hitches with MOFs for CO2 reduction, their future in combating global warming and energy insecurity is promising.

Keywords: CO2 Photoreduction, Energy-rich Chemicals, Metal-organic Frameworks, Photocatalysis.