Emerging spinel ferrite catalysts for driving CO2 hydrogenation to high-value chemicals

Spinel ferrite catalysts (SFCs) have demonstrated significant benefits as excellent materials for the sustainable production of high-value chemicals from CO2 hydrogenation thanks to their flexible structure, tunable composition, and thermal stability. They can promote the activation, adsorption, and reactivity of CO2 with high conversion efficiencies and stable performances. These have triggered the exponentially growing attention they have received in the last few years. Here, current developments in catalytic CO2 hydrogenation to olefins, alcohols, aromatics, and other liquid hydrocarbons are discussed in terms of fabrication, modification strategies, and structure-performance relationships under various categories of SFCs, namely Fe3O4 (magnetite)-based, transition-metal-based, alkaline-earth metal-based, and Al-based SFCs. Furthermore, the review reveals key performance-influencing factors and provides insights into selectivity control mechanisms during the SFC-promoted CO2 hydrogenation reaction. In the end, current underlying challenges and recommendations to motivate further design of more high-performance SFCs with long lifespans for CO2 hydrogenation are provided.