Advancement and State-of-art of heterogeneous catalysis for selective CO2 hydrogenation to methanol

Addressing global warming while fulfilling the growing need for energy, fuels, and chemicals is a huge challenge currently faced by civilization. Utilization of carbon dioxide (CO2) or CO2 rich feeds and renewable hydrogen for methanol synthesis via hydrogenation-, photo-, and electrocatalytic reduction will not only reduce the emissions but also make it a promising versatile C1 compounds for the synthesis of greener fuels, thus achieving a global sunshine vision. In this review, we have focused on a variety of heterogeneous catalysts, that have been employed for the selective methanol production from CO2 reduction, and different types of reactor (batch, flow and photoreactor) systems utilized to carry out the necessary CO2 conversions via electro-, photo-, and thermocatalytic pathways. This review was sum-up with future aspects of the CO2 utilization technology with concluding remark. This review is anticipated to support and advance ongoing investigations into reactor systems for the selective methanol synthesis from CO2 as a fuel. Catalytic active sites, reactor engineering, and the control of reaction parameters synergistically affects the catalytic performance in terms of activity, selectivity, and stability of the next-generation heterogeneous catalysts for CO2 reduction. Thus, opening new opportunities for sustainable remedies to the climate change, environmental issues, and rising energy demands as well as the potential commercial technology.