Emerging trends in porous materials for CO2 capture and conversion

Abstract

The presence of an excessive concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere needs to be curbed with suitable measures including the reduction of CO₂ emissions at stationary point sources such as power plants through carbon capture technologies and subsequent conversion of the captured CO₂ into non-polluting clean fuels/chemicals using photo and/or electrocatalytic pathways. Porous materials have attracted much attention for carbon capture and in the recent past; they have witnessed significant advancements in their design and implementation for CO₂ capture and conversion. In this context, the emerging trends in major porous adsorbents such as MOFs, zeolites, POPs, porous carbons, and mesoporous materials for CO₂ capture and conversion are discussed. Their surface texture and chemistry, and the influence of various other features on their efficiency, selectivity, and recyclability for CO₂ capture and conversion are explained and compared thoroughly. The scientific and technical advances on the material structure versus CO₂ capture and conversion provide deep insights into designing effective porous materials. The review concludes with a summary, which compiles the key challenges in the field, current trends and critical challenges in the development of porous materials, and future research directions combined with possible solutions for realising the deployment of porous materials in CO₂ capture and conversion.