Electrochemical CO₂ reduction (CO₂ ECR) is an efficient approach to achieving eco-friendly energy generation and environmental sustainability. This approach is capable of lowering the CO₂ greenhouse gas concentration in the atmosphere while producing various valuable fuels and products. For catalytic CO₂ ECR, two-dimensional (2D) materials stand as promising catalyst candidates due to their superior electrical conductivity, abundant dangling bonds, and tremendous amounts of surface active sites. On the other hand, the investigations on fundamental reaction mechanisms in CO₂ ECR are highly demanded but usually require advanced in situ and operando multimodal characterizations. This review summarizes recent advances in the development, engineering, and structure–activity relationships of 2D materials for CO₂ ECR. Furthermore, we overview state-of-the-art in situ and operando characterization techniques, which are used to investigate the catalytic reaction mechanisms with the spatial resolution from the micron-scale to the atomic scale, and with the temporal resolution from femtoseconds to seconds. Finally, we conclude this review by outlining challenges and opportunities for future development in this field.

中文翻译：

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用于电化学 CO2 还原的二维材料：材料、原位/操作表征和透视

电化学 CO ₂还原 (CO ₂ ECR) 是实现环保能源生产和环境可持续性的有效方法。这种方法能够降低大气中CO ₂温室气体的浓度，同时生产各种有价值的燃料和产品。对于催化 CO ₂ ECR，二维 (2D) 材料由于其优异的导电性、丰富的悬挂键和大量的表面活性位点而成为有前途的催化剂候选者。另一方面，对 CO ₂ ECR 的基本反应机制的研究需求很大，但通常需要先进的原位和操作方法。多模态表征。本综述总结了用于 CO ₂ ECR的二维材料的开发、工程和结构-活性关系的最新进展。此外，我们概述了最先进的原位和操作表征技术，这些技术用于研究催化反应机制，空间分辨率从微米级到原子级，时间分辨率从飞秒到秒. 最后，我们通过概述该领域未来发展的挑战和机遇来结束本次审查。