Authors: Assistant Professor Dr Aarti Dwivedi, Ms.Sharon Pricilla Jeevankumar Leela
Abstract: With the ever-rising concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere, now above 420 ppm, there is an urgent need for advanced technology to enable sustainable carbon utilization. Photochemical reduction of CO₂ provides a promising approach towards the valorization of this greenhouse gas by converting it into valuable chemicals and fuel via solar energy. This paper aims to present an overview of the fundamental principles of the photochemical CO₂ conversion process and approaches for designing efficient catalysts and optimizing its performance. In our analysis, we focus on semiconductor-based photocatalysis, the use of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) for the selective reduction of CO₂ into C₁ products (CO, CH₄, HCOOH, CH₃OH) and C₂⁺ products (C₂H₄, C₂H₅OH). On the basis of the quantitative analysis of reaction pathways and thermodynamics of the process, we conclude that surface-treated TiO₂ produces 85.6 µmol · g⁻¹· h⁻¹ CO with selectivity up to 92.3%, whereas MOF-based catalysts can reach conversion rates of more than 99% CH₄ with 7.5 mmol · g⁻¹ · h⁻¹ production.
