Integrated CO2 capture and conversion: dual-functional materials, mechanisms, and pathways to industrial decarbonization

Abstract

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is both the principal anthropogenic greenhouse gas and a valuable, non-toxic, and abundant C₁ feedstock for sustainable fuel and chemical production. Conventional approaches have typically addressed CO₂ capture and CO₂ conversion as independent processes; however, each remains energy-intensive and economically constrained when implemented in isolation. The emerging concept of integrated CO₂ capture and conversion (ICCC) offers a transformative strategy to simultaneously mitigate CO₂ emissions and synthesize value-added products within a unified system. Unlike the simple sequential coupling of capture and utilization, ICCC demands the synergistic integration of capture media, catalytic interfaces, and reaction environments, requiring interdisciplinary insight spanning materials chemistry, catalysis, and electrochemical engineering. This review critically surveys recent progress in ICCC with a focus on dual-functional materials (DFMs) that enable concurrent CO₂ capture and catalytic conversion. The discussion encompasses a broad range of DFMs, including porous organic polymers, covalent organic frameworks, zeolites, metal–organic frameworks, metal oxides, amines, ionic liquids, deep eutectic solvents, and molten salts. Mainstream CO₂ capture technologies, post-, pre-, and oxy-fuel combustion routes, and associated separation techniques such as absorption, adsorption, membrane filtration, cryogenics, and looping cycles are systematically analyzed through a SWOT framework (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) across efficiency, energy, cost, and technology readiness dimensions. By coupling techno-economic evaluation with emerging mechanistic and computational insights, this review identifies viable strategies to bridge the gap between laboratory innovation and industrial deployment. Finally, we outline key research priorities, including the rational design of DFMs, optimization of catalytic interfaces, and integration of AI-driven process control, positioning ICCC as an emerging pathway toward industrial decarbonization and the global clean energy transition, while highlighting fundamental constraints from coupled CO₂ adsorption thermodynamics, transport, and catalytic kinetics that expose critical material-stability and system-integration challenges for large-scale deployment.