A review of plasma-assisted catalytic conversion of gaseous carbon dioxide and methane into value-added platform chemicals and fuels.

CO 2 and CH 4 contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, while the production of industrial base chemicals from natural gas resources is emerging as well. Such conversion processes, however, are energy-intensive and introducing a renewable and sustainable electric activation seems optimal, at least for intermediate-scale modular operation. The review thus analyses such valorisation by plasma reactor technologies and heterogeneous catalysis application, largely into higher hydrocarbon molecules, that is ethane, ethylene, acetylene, propane, etc. , and organic oxygenated compounds, i.e. methanol, formaldehyde, formic acid and dimethyl ether. Focus is given to reaction pathway mechanisms, related to the partial oxidation steps of CH 4 with O 2 , H 2 O and CO 2 , CO 2 reduction with H 2 , CH 4 or other paraffin species, and to a lesser extent, to mixtures' dry reforming to syngas. Dielectric barrier discharge, corona, spark and gliding arc sources are considered, combined with (noble) metal materials. Carbon (C), silica (SiO 2 ) and alumina (Al 2 O 3 ) as well as various catalytic supports are examined as precious critical raw materials ( e.g. platinum, palladium and rhodium) or transition metal ( e.g. manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel and copper) substrates. These are applied for turnover, such as that pertinent to reformer, (reverse) water-gas shift (WGS or RWGS) and CH 3 OH synthesis. Time-on-stream catalyst deactivation or reactivation is also overviewed from the viewpoint of individual transient moieties and their adsorption or desorption characteristics, as well as reactivity.