Electrocatalytic recycling of CO₂ and small organic molecules

As global warming directly affects the ecosystems and humankind in the 21^st century, attention and efforts are continuously being made to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide (CO ₂). In addition, there have been numerous efforts to electrochemically convert CO₂ gas to small organic molecules (SOMs) and vice versa. Herein, we highlight recent advances made in the electrocatalytic recycling of CO₂ and SOMs including (i) the overall trend of research activities made in this area, (ii) the relations between reduction conditions and products in the aqueous phase, (iii) the challenges in the use of gas diffusion electrodes for the continuous gas phase CO₂ reduction, as well as (iv) the development of state of the art hybrid techniques for industrial applications. Perspectives geared to fully exploit the potential of zero-gap cells for CO₂ reduction in the gaseous phase and the high applicability on a large scale are also presented. We envision that the hybrid system for CO₂ reduction supported by sustainable solar, wind, and geothermal energies and waste heat will provide a long term reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and will allow for continued use of the abundant fossil fuels by industries and/or power plants but with zero emissions.