Harnessing cyclodextrins for enhanced CO₂ management: Recent advances and perspectives for sustainable applications

The critical need to address increasing atmospheric CO₂ levels has motivated efforts to develop sustainable materials for carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS). Cyclodextrins (CDs) have emerged as practical and versatile candidates for improving CO₂ handling due to their naturally occurring macrocyclic structures. CDs possess tunable hydrophobic interiors and hydrophilic exteriors that enable efficient host-guest chemistry. This review highlights the potential of CDs to overcome traditional limitations in CCUS through supramolecular interactions. In capture applications, CD-based systems exhibit reversible CO₂ binding through combined chemisorption and physisorption mechanisms. For gas separation, CD-functionalized membranes and composite porous materials enhance selectivity via molecular sieving and anti-plasticization effects, with some systems showing no apparent permeability selectivity trade-offs. In catalytic conversion, CDs facilitate metal-free reactions that transform CO₂ into value added products under moderate conditions. Despite advantages including biocompatibility, structural tunability, and green synthesis, CD-based platforms face challenges related to scalability, mechanical stability in operating fluids, and long-term deactivation. This review consolidates current advances in CD host chemistry and materials science to bridge laboratory developments and practical CCUS implementation. Addressing issues of scalable synthesis, energy efficient regeneration, and operational stability is therefore the key to transitioning CD-based materials from the laboratory to practical CCUS applications.