Smart design strategies of metal-based compounds for electrochemical CO2 reduction: From microscopic structure to atomic-level active site

Electrochemical CO2 reduction (CO2RR) to valuable products enables an artificial carbon-neutral electrosynthesis via integrating renewable energy resources. Various electrocatalysts have been studied with varying degrees of success from various viewpoints toward CO2RR. Among them, metal-based compounds hold great potential to drive industrial-scale CO2RR upon taking the scarcity, the reserve, the cost, the preparation complexity, and the practical application into consideration as a whole. However, a comprehensive coverage on smart design strategies of specific nanostructures of metal-based compounds is still lacking. This review thus challenges the position to discuss various design strategies and their resultant properties benefiting from various specific nanostructures of metal-based compounds in depth. Furthermore, the effects induced by the specific nanostructures are dissected to unlock the nanostructure-property-activity relationships and the underlying mechanisms. In addition, the issues and challenges that this technology faces on metal-based compounds with various specific nanostructures toward CO2RR are suggested.