CO2 Electroreduction in Ionic Liquids: A Review

The increasing emission of carbon dioxide (CO₂) caused by the unrestrained consumption of fossil fuels in recent hundreds of years, has caused global environmental and social problems. Meanwhile, CO₂ is a cheap, abundant and renewable C1‐feedstock, which can be converted into alcohols, ethers, acids and other value‐added chemicals. Compared with the thermal reactions, electrochemical reduction of CO₂ is more attractive because of its advantages by using the seasonal, geographical and intermittent energy (tide, wind and solar) under mild conditions. In recent years, taking ionic liquids (ILs) as electrolytes in the CO₂ electrochemical reduction reaction has been paid much more attention due to the advantages of lowering the overpotential of CO₂ electroreduction and improving the Faradaic efficiency. In this paper, we summarized the recent progresses of electrochemical reduction of CO₂ in ILs electrolytes, and analyzed the reaction mechanism of CO₂ reaction in the electrode‐electrolyte interface region by experimental and simulation methods. Finally, the research which needs to be highlighted in this area was proposed.