Role of ionic liquids in photo/electrocatalytic reduction of CO2

Abstract

Reducing CO2 into energy fuel is an effective way to alleviate the energy crisis and greenhouse effect. In recent years, domestic and foreign scholar have carried out extensive research on the photo(electro)catalytic reduction of CO2. However, the photo(electro)catalytic reduction of CO2 still has some problems, such as low visible light response, high recombination rate of photo-generated electrons and holes, small CO2 adsorption and poor selectivity of products, which restrict the rapid development of this field. As a new type of green solvent, ionic liquids (ILs) have high thermal stability and strong CO2 adsorption. They can be used as reaction medium or cocatalyst in the photo(electro)catalytic reduction of CO2 chemical reactions, so they have been widely studied. In this paper, the research status and roles of ionic liquids in photo(electro)catalytic reduction of CO2 in recent years are analyzed and reviewed, and the development prospect of ILs in this field is prospected.