Research on photocatalytic CO2 conversion to renewable synthetic fuels based on localized surface plasmon resonance: current progress and future perspectives

Climate change is one of the major challenges the society is facing today, and has become a global non-traditional security issue that seriously threatens human survival and sustainable development. Therefore, the search for renewable and clean fuel is an important challenge for sustainable development of society. Herein, we discuss the application of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) plasmonic nanoparticles (PNPs) in the carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) regarding their basic principles, activation mechanisms and catalytic applications. The basic principles include the mechanism and activation process of LSPR with charge carriers. Activation mechanisms involve three main pathways including thermal charge carrier transfer, optical near-field enhancement and photothermal effect. Their catalytic applications contain differently modified and designed plasmonic photocatalysts. It is hoped that this review will help readers understand the complex catalytic mechanisms and provide new ideas for the design of LSPR photocatalysts. Moreover, hopefully this research can provide support for the development of Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS).