The use of heterogeneous catalysis as an enabling technology in the application of environmental and sustainable chemistry is a mature, yet constantly growing field.

Since the 1990s, the applications of environmental catalysis have included the development and refinement of three-way catalysts and lean NOx treatment systems, catalytic combustion of pollutants and fuels, and catalytic and photocatalytic remediation of polluted aqueous systems. Current and future pollutants of interest that will require catalytic remediation will include aqueous microplastics, fluorinated alkyl compounds and recalcitrant organic molecules.

Current and future applications of sustainable catalysis that will enable the circular economy will arise in the development of artificial photosynthesis systems for CO₂ recycling and valorisation; the generation of solar fuels and chemicals; sustainable hydrogen and platform molecule synthesis; catalytic processing of plastic waste, catalytic systems for facilitating the use of thermochemical heat pumps and renewable energy storage systems; catalytic approaches to lignocellulose-containing biomass and organic waste refining in biorefinery installations, catalytic approaches to metal and urban waste recycling and materials for promotion of chemical looping combustion and CO₂ separation processes.

Furthermore, as one of the tenets of Green Chemistry, the use of catalysts in promoting safer, more environmentally acceptable and sustainable chemical syntheses will continue to be an area of importance. This will include the development of catalysts to allow the use of non-toxic reagents, decrease required energy inputs (or permit solar powered photocatalysts), allow the use of benign solvents, and drive enantioselective reactions.

All of these areas will be accompanied by the gradual replacement of critical element-containing catalysts by more earth-abundant analogs.

Sustainable Chemistry (ISSN 2673-4079) released its inaugural issue in June 2020 and aims to provide a professional publishing service to the scientific community, striving for the effective dissemination of high-quality scientific work. On behalf of the Editorial Board, we welcome scholars whose research focuses on the use of heterogeneous catalysis in environmental and sustainable chemistry to propose ideas on publishing cooperation, e.g. publication, themed Special Issues, academic conferences, etc., to Sustainable Chemistry Editorial Office, [email protected].

Prof. James Sullivan
Editorial Board Member
School of Chemistry, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland

Prof. Dr. Matthew Jones
Editor-in-Chief
Department of Chemistry, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, UK