S Q Yan, Yuting Wang, Wenhao Zhao, Jinqiang Zhang, Guangyao Chen, Lei Jiang, Yun Wang, Yingquan Chen, Xi Zhang, Xianhua Wang, Kuo Zeng, Hongqi Sun, Shuxin Ouyang, Yonggang Yao, Haiping Yang, H G Chen
ABSTRACT Photothermal CO 2 hydrogenation has attracted extensive attention because it provides a green and sustainable approach to fuel and chemicals production. The photothermal catalyst plays a critical role in CO 2 conversion through a range of reactions. Its design should not only achieve satisfactory light‐harvesting for solar‐to‐heat conversion but also take advantage of potential photochemistry for catalytic performance optimization. This review critically analyzed the state‐of‐the‐art progress in photothermal CO 2 hydrogenation to CO, CH 3 OH, CH 4, and C 2+ products. Besides, photochemical mechanisms were also elaborated with particular attention to the photo‐enhancement over the catalysts with respect to the above CO 2 hydrogenation reactions. Finally, the plausible principles for the design of CO 2 hydrogenation photothermal catalysts were also discussed in both photochemical and thermochemical ways.