Chinese Journal of Catalysis ›› 2025, Vol. 70: 230-259.DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(24)60214-7

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1D-based nanostructures in photocatalytic CO2 reduction

Farideh Kolahdouzana, Nahal Goodarzia, Mahboobeh Setayeshmehrb, Dorsa Sadat Mousavib, Alireza Z. Moshfegha,b,*()   

  1. aCenter for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Institute for Convergence Science and Technology, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran 14588-89694, Iran
    bDepartment of Physics, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran 11555-9161, Iran
  • Received:2024-09-26 Accepted:2024-11-11 Online:2025-03-18 Published:2025-03-20
  • Contact: * E-mail: moshfegh@sharif.edu (A. Moshfegh).
  • About author:Professor Alireza Z. Moshfegh received his PhD in Physics at University of Houston, Texas (USA) in 1990. After two years of Post-Doctoral research activity in Texas Center for Superconductivity, he joined as an assistant professor in Department of Physics at the Sharif University of Technology (SUT) in Tehran, Iran. He is the founder of Vacuum Society of Iran (VSI) and acted as its president (2004‒2010) as well as co-founder of Iranian Society of Surface Science &Technology (ISSST). He is selected as the first ranked physics researcher in Iran in 2011. He established a large multidisciplinary research group called NEST (Nano-Energy-Surface-Thin films) (https://nest.sharif.edu) in 2012. The activity of the group mainly focuses on surface processes using 2D/1D/0D nanostructures and hierarchical heterostructures. He is selected as the “Chair of Surface & Interface Sciences" by Iran National Science Foundation in 2016 and promoted to “Distinguished Professor” in the SUT in 2017. His research interests focus mainly on the role of surfaces/interfaces of materials in photocatalysis/electrocatalysis for clean energy production and environmental remediation. He is serving as editorial board member of several reputable Journals including “ACS ES&T Engineering”, “Vacuum” and “Research in Chemical Intermediates”. He has published more than 180 peer-reviewed research articles, review papers and book chapters that all cited over 9600 times with H = 52 (Google Scholar).

Abstract:

Air pollution and global warming have aroused great interest in CO2 conversion research, as CO2 is the most important greenhouse gas. Photocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction (CRR) is a key carbon capture and utilization (CCU) technology aimed at transforming CO2 into valuable products like fuels and chemicals. However, many semiconductor photocatalysts used in CRR face challenges such as low optical absorption, poor charge carrier separation, and electron-hole recombination, leading to low reaction yields. Some important solutions to these issues include reducing nanostructure dimensions, cocatalyst decoration, as well as metal/nonmetal doping, and heterojunction construction. One-dimensional (1D) nanostructures like nanorods, nanotubes, nanowires, and nanofibers are prominent photocatalysts for CO2 reduction process due to their excellent light absorption capability, high electron-hole separation efficiency, high aspect ratio, and abundant exposed active surface sites. In this research, after studying CO2 reduction mechanism, we first discuss 1D nanomaterials growth methods based on the growing environment. Types of 1D nanostructures in photocatalytic CRR, have been also investigated. Two main strategies to improve 1D-based photocatalysts in CRR including surface modification and heterojunction construction are reviewed. Finally, the report presents some important challenges of the CRR and their solutions for future applications.

Key words: Photocatalytic CO2 conversion, One-dimensional nanostructure, Value-added product, Heterojunction, S-scheme, Greenhouse gas