Reduction of carbon dioxide into value added fuels and chemicals has been an interested field of research both in terms of energy as well as in environmental point of view. In photocatalytic reduction, in principle, the material harnesses the natural sun and atmospheric carbon dioxide in a sustainable pathway and convert it into chemicals and fuels, which requires a series of electron and proton transfer reactions, a style similar to the natural photosynthesis. Only the fruition of the technology, even in research laboratory scale is still a challenge due to the ‘n’ number of hurdles associated with the procedure. The mechanistic aspects are yet not readable or the current knowledge is not sufficient to explain the exact reaction mechanism. Amazingly, no arguments or controversies going on these issues among the scientific community. Out of all ‘n’ number of hurdles, here we are debating the mystery behind the mechanistic aspects of CO2 reduction.

1. Area of Interest:
Designing efficient materials for
photocatalytic conversion of CO2
HARIPRASAD NARAYANAN
Annual Day Presentation
Venue : M V C Sasthri Hall Time : 10.30am
NATIONAL CENTRE FOR CATALYSIS RESEARCH
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, MADRAS
On what we know and what we don’t know about
the photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide

2. On what we know and what we don’t know about
the photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide

3. O
B
J
E
C
T
I
V
E
S
http://solarfuelshub.org/why-solar-fuels

4. D
R
E
A
M
Adv.Mater., 2015, 27, 1957–1963.

5. 

C
O
N
V
E
R
S
I
O
N

6. I
N
S
P
I
R
A
T
I
O
N
Adv.Mater., 2015, 27, 1957–1963.

7. M
E
C
H
A
N
I
S
M

8. S
T
A
N
D
A
R
D
P
O
T
E
N
T
I
A
L

10. 

11. A
D
S
O
R
P
T
I
O
N

12. Carbon Dioxide Radical Anion
I
D
E
N
T
I
T
Y
C
R
I
S
I
S

14. 

22. J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 2013, 4 (20), pp 3479–3483

25. CARBON DIOXIDE REDUCTION OR ACTIVATION ?
Do we need to be concerned on the
activation of carbon dioxide?
or
Its subsequent reaction with hydrogen for
the formation of value added chemicals?

26. “I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source
of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out
before we tackle that. I wish I had more years left”
Thomas Edison
“It is time to build an actual artificial photosynthetic system, to
learn what works and what doesn't work, and thereby set the
stage for making it work better.”
Melvin Calvin

27. “On the arid lands there will spring up industrial colonies without smoke
and without smokestacks; forests of glass tubes will extend over the
plains and glass buildings will rise everywhere; inside of these will take
place the photochemical processes that hitherto have been the guarded
secret of the plants, but that will have been mastered by human industry
which will know how to make them bear even more abundant fruit than
nature, for nature is not in a hurry and mankind is. And if in a distant
future the supply of coal becomes completely exhausted, civilization will
not be checked by that, for life and civilization will continue as long as the
sun shines!”
Giacomo Luigi Ciamician