Recent Development of Defect Engineering in Photocatalytic CO₂ Reduction

Photocatalytic CO₂ reduction is an important approach for the resource utilization of greenhouse gases and the chemical conversion of renewable energy, and defect engineering has emerged as a well-established strategy to enhance photocatalytic efficiency. The introduction of defects into materials can precisely regulate their electronic structure and band structure, thereby optimizing their light absorption capacity, redox performance, charge transfer efficiency, and the number of active sites, which provides an effective solution to the problems encountered by traditional photocatalytic materials such as high carrier recombination rate and weak CO₂ adsorption and activation capacity. This paper presents a systematic review of the latest research progress of defect engineering in the field of photocatalytic CO₂ reduction, comprehensively sorting out the main types, and construction methods of defects in photocatalytic CO₂ reduction, and detailing the latest research achievements and application of various defects in photocatalytic CO₂ reduction reaction. Meanwhile, the technical bottlenecks and scientific problems currently faced by defect engineering in the research of photocatalytic CO₂ reduction are deeply analyzed, and the future development directions of this field are prospected. This work provides references for the design of efficient and stable photocatalytic materials and also lays a foundation for promoting the development and application of defect engineering in the field of photocatalysis.