Crafting an active center with a local charge density gradient to facilitate photocatalytic ethylene production from CO₂

Visible-light-driven conversion of CO₂ into fuels or useful chemicals is a promising methodology for solving the world's energy crises and the rising atmospheric CO₂ level. The reported products from CO₂ photocatalytic reduction are mainly C1 products, and C2 products with higher values, such as ethylene, are sparsely reported or produced at low selectivity. This short review summarizes the published work in the last 2 years on ethylene production via photocatalytic CO₂ reduction, emphasizing the importance of the induced local charge density gradient in boosting CO₂ reduction and promoting ethylene production. We aim to promote the fundamental understanding of photocatalytic CO₂ reduction to ethylene via providing fresh insights and rational design strategies for optimizing and developing suitable photocatalytic systems.