Curbing pollutant CO2 by using two-dimensional MXenes and MBenes

Nearly 85% of current human-caused CO2 emissions result from the burning of fossil fuels, including coal, oil, and natural gas. Carbon pollution warms the planet and increases hazardous extremes, such as heatwaves, droughts, wildfires, heavy rainfall, and flooding. Therefore, the decarbonization of industry and power plants is of great necessity. To this end, carbon-capture technologies and their effectiveness are critical to the success of curbing environmental CO2. Here, we review two recently developed materials, MXenes and MBenes, and discuss their potential in carbon capture. We present and compare material properties, including physical, thermodynamic, electrical, chemical, mechanical, electrocatalytic, and photocatalytic information, along with cost-effective and environmentally friendly synthesis of these materials for large-scale applications in CO2 capture. This comprehensive summary of progress in this field can facilitate critical research and promote collective efforts toward achieving the necessary large-scale implementation of MXenes and MBenes in capturing, sensing, reducing, and/or storing CO2.