Research progresses in the hydrogenation of carbon dioxide to certain hydrocarbon products

Abstract Accompanying with the rapid consumption of fossil fuel resources, a huge amount of CO2 has being released into the atmosphere, which brings serious environmental concerns. However, CO2 can also be considered as a clean and non-toxic carbon resource; the utilization of CO2 by converting it into various hydrocarbons can not only alleviate the greenhouse effect, but also provide a new sustainable route to produce clean fuel and chemical products. In this paper, we attempt to make a review on the recent research progresses in the hydrogenation of CO2 to certain hydrocarbons (including methane, olefins and aromatics) in recent years; in particular, the advance in the development of efficient catalysts for the hydrogenation of CO2 to methane, light olefins and aromatics as well as in the exploration of catalytic reaction mechanisms were retrospectively summarized. Lastly, we would like to have an outlook on the possible trends in the utilization of CO2 as a carbon resource through hydrogenation.