Recent development on titania-based nanomaterial for photocatalytic CO2 reduction: A review

Since the past few decades, nanomaterials proved to be an interesting candidate towards several applicative purposes. The oxide-based semiconductor nanomaterials provide added benefit for their capability in the utilization of renewable sources of energy, i.e., light energy. In this context, TiO2-based nanomaterials are extremely promising candidate and has been widely studied. As per the current global scenario humankind is majorly dependent on fossil fuels as the prime energy asset. This created two key challenges: (i) crisis of fossil fuel and (ii) global warming owing to increased level of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). In consideration of this, photocatalytic CO2 reduction to fuels and value-added-chemicals, is one of the revolutionary approaches to resolve both problems efficaciously. To address this concern efficiently, modified TiO2 based photocatalyst has been explored by several research groups worldwide, owing to their interesting physicochemical properties. This review summarizes fundamental aspects (principle, thermodynamics, kinetics), structural and compositional engineering of TiO2 based photocatalyst to achieve efficient photocatalytic CO2 reduction. Moreover, this article provides an elaborate study on several factors associated; along with the documentation of their efficiency and selectivity to assess the benchmark towards CO2 photoreduction reactions. Furthermore, an overview has been presented regarding photocatalytic CO2 reduction mechanism for different types of TiO2 based photocatalyst supported by computational studies. Finally, perspective related to probable modification approaches and opportunities in this vital area of research, has been discussed.