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The catalytic conversion of CO2 to value-added chemicals and fuels has been long regarded as a promising approach to the mitigation of CO2 emissions if green hydrogen is used. Light olefins, particularly ethylene and propylene, as building blocks for polymers and plastics, are currently produced primarily from CO2-generating fossil resources. The identification of highly efficient catalysts with selective pathways for light olefin production from CO2 is a high-reward goal, but it has serious technical challenges, such as low selectivity and catalyst deactivation. In this review, we first provide a brief summary of the two dominant reaction pathways (CO2-Fischer-Tropsch and MeOH-mediated pathways), mechanistic insights, and catalytic materials for CO2 hydrogenation to light olefins. Then, we list the main deactivation mechanisms caused by carbon deposition, water formation, phase transformation and metal sintering/agglomeration. Finally, we detail the recent progress on catalyst development for enhanced olefin yields and catalyst stability by the following catalyst functionalities: (1) the promoter effect, (2) the support effect, (3) the bifunctional composite catalyst effect, and (4) the structure effect. The main focus of this review is to provide a useful resource for researchers to correlate catalyst deactivation and the recent research effort on catalyst development for enhanced olefin yields and catalyst stability. 

We report the influence of side chain hydrolysis on the evolution of nanoscale structure in thin films fabricated by the reactive layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly of branched poly(ethylenimine) (PEI) and poly(2-vinyl-4,4-dimethylazlactone) (PVDMA). LbL assembly of PEI and PVDMA generally leads to the linear growth of thin, smooth films. However, assembly using PVDMA containing controlled degrees of side chain hydrolysis leads to the growth of thicker films that exhibit substantial nanoscale roughness, porosity, and have resulting physicochemical behaviors (e.g., superhydrophobicity) that are similar to those of some thicker PEI/PVDMA coatings reported in past studies. Our results reveal that the degree of PVDMA partial hydrolysis (or carboxylic acid group content) influences the extent to which complex film features develop, suggesting that ion-pairing interactions between hydrolyzed side chains and amines in PEI promote the evolution of bulk and surface morphology. Additional experiments demonstrate that these features likely arise from polymer/polymer interactions at the surfaces of the films during assembly, and not from the formation and deposition of solution-phase polymer aggregates. When combined, our results suggest that nanoporous structures and rough features observed in past studies likely arise, at least in part, from some degree of adventitious side chain hydrolysis in the PVDMA used for film fabrication. Our results provide useful insight into molecular-level features that govern the growth and structures of these reactive materials, and provide a framework to promote nanoscale morphology reliably and reproducibly. The principles and tools reported here should prove useful for further tuning the porosities and tailoring the physicochemical behaviors of these reactive coatings in ways that are important in applied contexts.