Recent Advances and Perspectives on Porphyrin for Photocatalytic CO₂ Reduction: From Molecules to Framework Materials

By mimicking artificial photosynthesis, utilizing abundant solar energy to directly convert CO₂ into renewable fuels or high-value chemicals offers a promising approach to tackle energy scarcity and global warming. Porphyrins and their derivatives, renowned for their unique conjugated structures and adaptable metal active sites, facilitate the reversible transformation of light, electrical, and chemical energy. This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent advancements in porphyrin-based materials, from molecular structures to framework systems, emphasizing strategies to enhance photocatalytic CO₂ conversion. Initially, the principles and distinctive attributes of porphyrin-based photocatalysis for CO₂ reduction are outlined, highlighting recent innovations in porphyrin molecular engineering to boost light absorption, charge separation, and catalytic efficiency. Then, porphyrin-based molecular heterogeneous photocatalytic systems are explored, which merge the advantages of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts for CO₂ reduction, including porphyrin-based covalent organic frameworks, metal-organic frameworks, and covalent organic polymers. Finally, future research directions, emphasizing the optimization of porphyrin structures, the exploration of new photocatalytic mechanisms, and the integration of porphyrin-based materials into practical devices for efficient CO₂ conversion are discussed. This review aims to offer fresh perspectives on the application of porphyrin-based materials in photocatalytic CO₂ reduction, inspiring innovative strategies in energy conversion.