Realization of Biomimetic Materials for CO<sub>2</sub> Reduction Based on Bioinspired Structural and Functional Design
Yiman Fu, Wei Peng, Xianjin Shi, Yu Huang
Abstract
High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide Developing efficient and sustainable systems to convert CO 2 into clean energy fuels and high-value-added chemicals remains a significant challenge. Despite substantial efforts in green chemical catalysis, such as photocatalytic systems, reliance on scarce precious metals and limited catalytic efficiency persists. Natural enzymes such as formate dehydrogenase (FDH) and CO dehydrogenase (CODH) exhibit high CO 2 reduction activity and selectivity, providing insights for creating sustainable artificial catalysts. This review discusses recent research on bioinspired and biomimetic materials based on natural enzyme and biocatalytic systems. In the beginning, the design of artificial materials is explored, detailing the development process of enzyme-mimicking materials that progressively replicate the overall structure, electronic properties, and catalytic functions of natural enzymes and biosystems. This approach not only elucidates the structural and mechanistic aspects of catalytic centers but also emphasizes the similarities between multicoordination layers and natural enzymes. Additionally, research into mimicking natural enzymes and complete biological catalytic systems is examined, addressing challenges such as enzyme instability and environmental sensitivity to ultimately enhance CO 2 utilization as a resource. Finally, the complexity of synthetic ligands and molecular catalysts is discussed, along with related challenges, including achieving biomimetic systems with dynamic coordinated operations, designing the outer coordination layer structure, and improving activity. Several research directions are proposed to inspire the application of biomimetic sustainable materials in CO 2 catalytic reduction. Although current active biomimetic catalysts require further improvement, their design achieves synergistic cooperation between biocatalysis and chemical catalysis, enabling the development of highly active catalysts with more sustainable, environmentally friendly strategies.