Metal-organic frameworks for photocatalytical carbon dioxide reduction reaction

Excessive use of carbonaceous fuels causes significant CO2 emissions so that more environmental issues are occurring. Reduction of CO2 to Carbonaceous compounds using sunlight is a viable strategy to address this problem. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) can effectively increase the interaction between CO₂ molecules and active sites thanks to its extensive specific surface area and adjustable pore configuration. Concurrently, the synergistic effect of transition metal and organic ligands in MOFs also regulate the electron transfer process and promote photoionization efficiency. These properties make MOFs materials get great applications to catalyze carbon dioxide reduction as photocatalyst. Moreover, the MOFs materials with adjustable components carry different metal ions and ligands to form diverse MOFs based photocatalyst, which provides more possibilities for the preparation of highly active catalysts. Currently, the primary products of MOFs based photocatalyst are CO, CH4 and other C1 products. In this perspective, we review the fundamental mechanisms of the photocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction and summarize the current research findings on MOFs based photocatalyst within the domain by classifying the reduction products. Finally, we present and prospect the outlook based on current research progress. The primary purpose of this paper is to discuss the relationship between the MOFs materials and product by summarizing the generation rate and selectivity for different products, and to offer the guiding role for the further advancement of catalysts with excellent catalytic activity for efficient C2+ products.