Recent progress in two-dimensional nanomaterials for photocatalytic carbon dioxide transformation into solar fuels

Photocatalysis, a renewable, bountiful, and viable technology, has been widely regarded as a promising method to alleviate environmental challenges and circumvent the increasingly tensed energy crisis. Specifically, substantial carbon dioxide (CO2) emission reduction can be achieved by using CO2 as the starting carbon source to generate renewable solar fuels such as methanol, methane, and formic acid. The fabrication and development of highly efficient photocatalysts are crucial determinants of this approach. The recently emerged two-dimensional (2D) materials have taken the research and energy scene by storm owing to their distinctive features of tunable bandgap, large surface-to-volume ratio, ultrathin characteristic, extraordinary electrical and optical absorption properties, copious active centers, and abundant coordinated unsaturated surface sites. These unique physicochemical properties render 2D materials as promising candidates for photocatalytic CO2 conversion into carbon-based fuels. In this article, an overview of the recent developments summarizing the CO2 photoreduction over 2D materials, namely, graphene-based photocatalysts, transition metal dichalcogenide–based photocatalysts and graphitic carbon nitride–based photocatalysts, are highlighted. In detail, the emerging strategies and recent advances for tailoring highly functional 2D material–based photocatalytic semiconductors comprising heterostructure fabrication, functionalization with advanced nanostructures, surface defect engineering, and elemental doping are discussed.