Recent progress in the electrochemical conversion and utilization of CO2

Over the past several years, there has been a growing interest in the capture of carbon dioxide emissions and either their permanent immobilization or chemical conversion to industrially relevant products. Several processes have been developed and studied; however, many of these methods are quite expensive since they require either ultra high purity CO2 or are energy intensive. Also, many purely chemical methods show low product selectivity. To address these limitations, several researchers have initiated activities using electrochemical processes to increase reaction pathway selectivity and reduce cost since it allows for direct control of the surface free energy through the electrode potential, which has shown promise. This review article focuses on the advantages and disadvantages of current electrochemical, photoelectrochemical and bioelectrochemical processes for CO2 conversion, and future directions for research in this area are discussed.