Advancements and Perspective of Environmentally Sustainable Technologies for Electrochemical Selective Conversion of CO₂ to Methanol

ABSTRACT

The electrochemical and catalytic reduction of CO₂ into valuable chemicals like methanol offers a promising strategy for CO₂ utilization while also producing sustainable fuels and feedstocks. The electrochemical reduction of CO₂ is the most promising technique for the future, as it has an impact on environmental issues and the advancement of renewable energy. This review summarizes recent advances in both heterogeneous and homogeneous catalytic hydrogenation and electrocatalytic conversion of CO₂ to methanol. The fundamentals of both CO₂tomethanol pathways are discussed, covering proposed mechanisms, catalyst materials (Cu, Pd alloys, nanostructured metals/metal oxides), reactor configurations, and process conditions. Key catalyst materials are analyzed, including copper, palladium alloys, nanostructured metals/metal oxides, and metalorganic frameworks tailored for selective 6-electron CO₂ reduction. Critical performance factors and optimization strategies for these catalysts and reactor setups are analyzed in depth, including electrolyte choice, applied potential, cathode design, and flow cell configuration. Finally, technoeconomic assessments of integrated CO₂-to-methanol processes provide vital insight into scale-up challenges and future research priorities across materials design, reactor engineering, and process intensification. This review offers a comprehensive reference on latest developments in catalytic and electrocatalytic CO₂ conversion to methanol.

ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Electrocatalysis
• sustainability
• electrochemical reduction
• CO₂ conversion
• methanol

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledges the financial assistance provided by Core Research Grant (CRG) File No. CRG/2021/000656 from the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Government of India. The authors are grateful to acknowledge Centre for Nano and Material Sciences (CNMS), Jain (Deemed-to-University), Bangalore for awarding a post-doctoral fellowship (Ref.No: JU/APP/CRTA/2024/094).

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Data availability

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received for this work;Jain University [JU/APP/CRTA/2024/094];Science and Engineering Research Board [CRG/2021/000656];

Notes on contributors

Arvind H. Jadhav

Arvind H. Jadhav is currently working as an Associate Professor at the Centre for Nano and Material Sciences (CNMS), JAIN University, Bangalore, India. He received his Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree in Organic Chemistry from SRTMU, Nanded, India. Following this, he worked as a chemist for two years at the reputed CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) in Pune, India. In 2010, he moved to ‘The Republic of Korea’ to pursue his doctoral studies after being awarded with the prestigious BK21 fellowship from “The Republic of Korean Government”. He received his PhD from the “Department of Energy Science and Technology” at Myongji University, Republic of Korea. In 2014, he joined as a Postdoctoral Fellow, and in the later part of the same year owing to his professional excellence, strong research background, and kind personality; he secured the position of Research Assistant Professor at Myongji University, Republic of Korea. Dr. Arvind H. Jadhav has several research patents and more than 100 research publications to his credit in reputed peer-reviewed international journals. He is also a recipient of many awards for his academic excellence with a gold medal for his PhD research and good number of best paper and best poster presentation awards. His main research areas focus on heterogeneous catalysis for CO2 conversion and utilization, synthesis of novel ionic liquids for organic transformations, sugar conversion and novel material synthesis for sustainable energy applications, and Biomass conversion. Other research happenings in his group include electrocatalysis (HER, OER) hydrogen generation reactions and catalytic hydrogenation & dehydrogenation reactions in high-pressure and continuous flow reactors.