Enzymatic conversion of carbon dioxide

With the continuous increase in fossil fuels consumption and the rapid growth of atmospheric CO2 concentration, the harmonious state between human and nature faces severe challenges. Exploring green and sustainable energy resources and devising efficient methods for CO2 capture, sequestration and utilization are urgently required. Converting CO2 into fuels/chemicals/materials as an indispensable element for CO2 capture, sequestration and utilization may offer a win-win strategy to both decrease the CO2 concentration and achieve the efficient exploitation of carbon resources. Among the current major methods (including chemical, photochemical, electrochemical and enzymatic methods), the enzymatic method, which is inspired by the CO2 metabolic process in cells, offers a green and potent alternative for efficient CO2 conversion due to its superior stereo-specificity and region/chemo-selectivity. Thus, in this tutorial review, we firstly provide a brief background about enzymatic conversion for CO2 capture, sequestration and utilization. Next, we depict six major routes of the CO2 metabolic process in cells, which are taken as the inspiration source for the construction of enzymatic systems in vitro. Next, we focus on the state-of-the-art routes for the catalytic conversion of CO2 by a single enzyme system and by a multienzyme system. Some emerging approaches and materials utilized for constructing single-enzyme/multienzyme systems to enhance the catalytic activity/stability will be highlighted. Finally, a summary about the current advances and the future perspectives of the enzymatic conversion of CO2 will be presented.