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Catalysts
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Catalytic Biomass Conversions into Fuels and Materials—Sustainable Technologies and Applications
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Catalytic Biomass Conversions into Fuels and Materials—Sustainable Technologies and Applications

A special issue of Catalysts (ISSN 2073-4344). This special issue belongs to the section "Biomass Catalysis".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 1583

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Francesco Nocito

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, University of Bari, Via Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, Italy
Interests: homogeneous catalysis; heterogeneous catalysis; CO2 conversion; biomass conversion; inorganic chemistry; material chemistry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

To meet the ever-increasing global energy demand and the need for sustainable chemical processes, the adoption of the circular economy model within the biorefinery concept is becoming essential. The use of feedstocks derived from both lignocellulosic and oily biomass, the latter extracted from terrestrial and/or algal species, is considered a potential source of clean energy, especially due to their abundance and cheapness to use in industrial settings; however, there is a significant challenge to fully utilize this form of biomass in industry.

In order to improve output efficiency to ensure low production costs, the development of new catalytic processes (thermal, electro-, photo- or their combination) for renewable solid/liquid source conversion into bio-fuels and bio-materials is becoming a key factor in the reduction of fossil raw materials utilization and the emission of greenhouse gasses. In addition, this integrated biological and catalytic methodology is increasing interest in academic and industrial biomass applications. This Special Issue provides a comprehensive overview description of recent catalytic technologies and processes involved in biomass and biomass-derived conversion towards next generation energy products (bio-fuels) and valuable bio-chemical products (hydrogen, alcohols, organic acids, etc.), or bio-materials like monomers for bioplastics, with emphasis on platform molecules production and conversion.

Dr. Francesco Nocito
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Catalysts is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • biomass conversion
  • catalysis
  • integrated bio-catalysis
  • bio fuels
  • bio-materials
  • platform molecules

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 7664 KiB  
Article
Single-Atom and Sub-Nano Ruthenium Cluster Catalysts—Application to Biomass Upgrading into Biofuel Additive
by Chaima Z. Tabet-Zatla, Sumeya Bedrane, José Juan Calvino, Miguel Ángel Cauqui, Fayçal Dergal, Redouane Bachir, Chewki Ziani-Cherif and Juan Carlos Hernández-Garrido
Catalysts 2025, 15(5), 449; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal15050449 - 3 May 2025
Viewed by 450
Abstract
Sub-nano metal clusters have important physicochemical features that lead to a wide range of applications. Herein, we point out an unfailing reproducible protocol to synthesize ruthenium single-atom catalysts and ultra-small clusters supported on various silica–alumina mixed oxides. The catalysts were synthesized via a [...] Read more.
Sub-nano metal clusters have important physicochemical features that lead to a wide range of applications. Herein, we point out an unfailing reproducible protocol to synthesize ruthenium single-atom catalysts and ultra-small clusters supported on various silica–alumina mixed oxides. The catalysts were synthesized via a dendrimer-free, sonication-assisted route, with ruthenium loadings up to 2 wt%. Raman spectroscopy mapping revealed a wide coverage of the materials’ surfaces by ruthenium, while HAADF-STEM evidenced that 100% of the ruthenium was at the sub-nano scale, with up to 74% of the single atoms and metal clusters having an average size between 0.3 and 0.7 nm, independently of the support or the metal’s loading. These materials exhibited highly selective size-dependent catalytic performances in upgrading biomass-derived furfural into transportation biofuel additive 2,2′-difurfurylether, with turnover frequencies up to 1148 h−1. Ruthenium single atoms and sub-nano clusters showed an exceptional resistance to sintering, with a size variation of ±0.1 nm before and after reaction, and no metal leaching was observed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catalytic Biomass Conversions into Fuels and Materials—Sustainable Technologies and Applications)
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16 pages, 2145 KiB  
Article
Highly Selective Oxidation of 1,2-Propanediol to Lactic Acid Using Pd Nanoparticles Supported on Functionalized Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes
by Zhiqing Wang, Xiong Xiong, Aiqian Jin, Lingqin Shen and Hengbo Yin
Catalysts 2025, 15(1), 53; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal15010053 - 9 Jan 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 820
Abstract
1,2-Propanediol, with its highly functionalized molecular structure and abundant availability, serves as a viable feedstock for high-value chemicals. The oxidation of 1,2-propanediol can potentially yield lactic acid, an important commodity chemical. Herein, we report the catalytic oxidation of 1,2-propanediol in the presence of [...] Read more.
1,2-Propanediol, with its highly functionalized molecular structure and abundant availability, serves as a viable feedstock for high-value chemicals. The oxidation of 1,2-propanediol can potentially yield lactic acid, an important commodity chemical. Herein, we report the catalytic oxidation of 1,2-propanediol in the presence of NaOH, using Pd nanoparticles (NPs) supported on various functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Both single-factor experiments and the response surface methodology were employed to investigate the optimal operating parameters. It was found that nitrogen doping promotes strong metal–support interactions between the active components and the support. Under optimal reaction conditions (123 °C, 1.25 MPa O2 pressure, 4 h, and a NaOH/1,2-PDO molar ratio of 4.0), a high lactic acid yield of 68.3% was achieved using nitrogen-doped MWCNT-supported Pd nanoparticles as the catalyst. The selectivity for lactic acid decreased with increasing reaction time, temperature, NaOH/1,2-PDO molar ratio, and O2 pressure, while the conversion rate increased correspondingly. After five cycles, the conversion of 1,2-PDO slightly decreased to 76.2%, while the LA selectivity remained high at 84.9%. Additionally, the reaction pathway was further investigated, confirming the formation mechanism of lactic acid. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catalytic Biomass Conversions into Fuels and Materials—Sustainable Technologies and Applications)
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