Well-defined surface catalytic sites for solar CO₂ reduction: heterogenized molecular catalysts and single atom catalysts

Exciting progress has been made in the area of solar fuel generation by CO2 reduction. New photocatalytic materials containing well-defined surface catalytic sites have emerged in recent years, including heterogenized molecular catalysts and single atom catalysts. This Feature Article summarizes our recent research in this area, together with brief discussions of relevant literature. In our effort to obtain heterogenized molecular catalysts, a diimine-tricarbonyl Re(i) complex and a tetraaza macrocyclic Co(iii) compound were covalently attached to different surfaces, and the effects of ligand derivatization and surface characteristics on their structures and photocatalytic activities were investigated. Single atom catalysts combine the advantages of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis. A single-site cobalt catalyst was prepared on graphitic carbon nitride, which demonstrated excellent activity in selective CO2 reduction under visible-light irradiation. Doping carbon nitride with carbon was found to have profound effects on the structure and activity of the single-site cobalt catalyst. Our research achievements are presented to emphasize how spectroscopic techniques, including infrared, UV-visible, electron paramagnetic resonance, and X-ray absorption spectroscopies, could be combined with catalyst synthesis and computation modeling to understand the structures and properties of well-defined surface catalytic sites at the molecular level. This article also highlights challenges and opportunities in the broad context of solar CO2 reduction.