The conversion of CO₂ into high value-added chemical products is the focus of current scientific research. We make use of the specific porous structure of nanosized metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) loading the highly active yet metastable nano Cu₂O to catalyze the conversion of CO₂ into a series of high value-added bioactive pyridone/pyrone-3-carboxylic acid products via heterocyclic 4-hydroxy-2-pyridones/pyrones, which exhibit high activity, selectivity, and reusability. Nano MOF sponge-covered metastable nanoparticles (NPs) converting CO₂ into high value-added bioproducts provide a facile “dual-side surfactant” strategy, a highly efficient composite catalyst, and a practicable pathway not only for the sustainable use of CO₂ but also for environment-friendly production of bioproducts.

The full (paywalled) article appeared on the ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces website at https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acsami.1c00844