Frontiers of CO₂ Capture and Utilization (CCU) towards Carbon Neutrality

CO₂ capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technology is a rare option for the large-scale use of fossil fuels in a low-carbon way, which will definitely play a part in the journey towards carbon neutrality. Within the CCUS nexus, CCU is especially interesting because these processes will establish a new “atmosphere-to-atmosphere” carbon cycle and thus indirectly offer huge potential in carbon reduction. This study focuses on the new positioning of CCUS in the carbon neutrality scenario and aims to identify potential cutting-edge/disruptive CCU technologies that may find important application opportunities during the decarbonization of the energy and industrial system. To this end, direct air capture (DAC), flexible metal-framework materials (MOFs) for CO₂ capture, integrated CO₂ capture and conversion (ICCC), and electrocatalytic CO₂ reduction (ECR) were selected, and their general introduction, the importance to carbon neutrality, and most up-to-date research progress are summarized.