No abstract

Widespread academic and industrial interest in upgrading C 1 compounds, such as carbon dioxide and methane, to chemicals and fuels has spurred development on heterogeneous catalysts that efficiently activate these compounds from their thermodynamically stable ground states. Existing challenges persist in achieving both activity and selectivity of the various bond-breaking and bond-forming reactions. We highlight various successes in using metal nanoparticles, redox-active metal oxide supports, and zeolite catalysts in converting carbon dioxide and methane to value-added chemicals, such as methanol. We then present several recent advances in catalyst concepts -specifically, the use of ionic liquids and complex materials -and characterization tools that we anticipate will drive C 1 process development over the next decade.