Nanostructrued Catalysts for CO2 electroreduction: From Product Selectivity to Scalable Design

Abstract

Electrochemical CO2 reduction (eCO2RR) offers a sustainable route to fuels and chemicals by coupling CO2 conversion with renewable electricity. Rapid progress in nanostructured catalysts and advanced electrolyser designs has improved activity, selectivity, and current density. However, major barriers still impede industrial application. These include CO2 activation challenges, competing hydrogen evolution, catalyst degradation, carbonate formation, membrane and GDEs instability, and complex water and ion management under high current density operation. Achieving commercially relevant performance further requires long-term durability and efficient CO2 utilization. This review highlights recent advances in nanocatalyst design for product-selective eCO2RR and outlines key structure-property strategies for bridging laboratory performance with practical, scalable electrolysis.