Photoelectrochemical CO₂ Reduction

Global warming caused by the rising atmospheric CO₂ level and energy shortage has become increasingly serious problems. Solar- or electricity-driven CO₂ reduction provides a promising route to confront the predicaments. The last chapter introduces the photocatalytic CO₂ reduction. Meantime, photoelectrochemical (PEC) CO₂ reduction system is also a promising avenue for the solar energy conversion to chemical feedstock, and the PEC reduction of CO₂ ^- system can integrate and optimize the merits of both photocatalysis and electrocatalysis to improve the performance of CO₂ reduction with a high efficiency and excellent selectivity. Past decades have witnessed the outstanding development of PEC CO₂ reduction. In this chapter, we discuss the recent advanced design for PEC CO₂ reduction. Firstly, some basic principles and reaction parameters are summarized for the PEC CO₂ ^- reduction, which could be used as basic evaluation to evaluate the excellence of catalytic system. Thereafter, we would examine the recent research advances about the catalyst materials on PEC CO₂ ^- reduction, for example, (i) some semiconductors, including oxide semiconductors, non-oxide semiconductors, and chalcogenides semiconductors; (ii) cocatalysts, such as metal nanoparticles and metal complex cocatalysts; (iii) hybrid semiconductors, e.g. conductive polymers, enzymatic biocatalysts, organic molecules, etc.; (iv) some newly developed setups for PEC CO₂ reduction are sketched; and (v) the challenges and key factors are put forward for the further development of PEC CO₂ reduction, which could effectively improve the designs for setups and deeply enhance the systematic understanding for mechanisms.