Electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide into fuel and chemicals with added value represents an appealing approach to reduce the greenhouse effect and realize a carbon-neutral cycle, which has great potential in mitigating global warming and effectively storing renewable energy. The electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) usually involves multiproton coupling and multielectron transfer in aqueous electrolytes to form multicarbon products (C2+ products), but it competes with the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), which results in intrinsically sluggish kinetics and a complex reaction mechanism and places higher requirements on the design of catalysts. In this review, the advantages of electrochemical CO2 reduction are briefly introduced, and then, different categories of Cu-based catalysts, including monometallic Cu catalysts, bimetallic catalysts, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) along with MOF-derived catalysts and other catalysts, are summarized in terms of their synthesis method and conversion of CO2 to C2+ products in aqueous solution. The catalytic mechanisms of these catalysts are subsequently discussed for rational design of more efficient catalysts. In response to the mechanisms, several material strategies to enhance the catalytic behaviors are proposed, including surface facet engineering, interface engineering, utilization of strong metal-support interactions and surface modification. Based on the above strategies, challenges and prospects are proposed for the future development of CO2RR catalysts for industrial applications. Graphical Abstract

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A strategy for low-temperature synthesis of hydrotalcite-based nickel phosphide catalysts (Ni2P-Al2O3) with flower-like porous structures was proposed. The in situ reduction of red phosphorus at 500 °C enables Ni2P catalysts with small particle size and abundant active and acidic sites, which facilitate the activation of substrates and H2. In the hydrodeoxygenation of guaiacol, a 100% conversion and 94.5% yield of cyclohexane were obtained over the Ni2P-Al2O3 catalyst under 5 MPa H2 at 250 °C for 3 h. Other lignin-derived phenolic compounds could also afford the corresponding alkanes with yields higher than 85%. Moreover, Ni2P-Al2O3 exhibited high hydrodeoxygenation activity in the deconstruction of more complex wood structures, including lignin oil and real lignin. Among the two different types of Ni sites of Ni(1) and Ni(2) in Ni2P, density functional theory (DFT) calculations showed that the Ni(2) site, highly exposed on the Ni2P-Al2O3 surface, possesses a stronger ability to break C–OH bonds during the hydrodeoxygenation of guaiacol in comparison with the Ni(1) site.

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