Abstract:2photoreduction is a negative carbon emission technology. The efficiency of CO2photore⁃duction using sunlight is relatively low. Photo-thermal synergistic catalytic reduction of CO2has beenthe research hotspot in recent years. However, the concept of photothermal catalysis has different un⁃derstandings. One view is that photothermal catalysis is referring to using the surface plasmon resonancethermal effect of the catalyst to generate hot electrons to promote CO2reduction. Another view is thatphotothermal catalysis is referring to promoting the CO2photoreduction by increasing the reaction tem⁃perature using light and heat as the driving force. In order to further analyze the concept of photothermalcatalysis, the recent papers were summarized and analyzed from the following three different angles:photothermal catalysis based on surface plasma effect, photothermal catalytic reduction of CO2usinglight and heat as the driving force, and photothermal catalytic reduction of CO2with process intensifica⁃tion. Close-