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Catalytic Sustainable Processes Using Carbonaceous Materials

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 November 2022) | Viewed by 16265

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Andreia F. Peixoto

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REQUIMTE, Departamento de Química e Bioquímica, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
Interests: heterogeneous catalysis; catalytic process; biomass valorization; carbon-based material; biofuels; CO₂ valorization; renewable energy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Diana M. Fernandes

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REQUIMTE-LAQV, Departamento de Química e Bioquímica, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
Interests: electrocatalysis; energy-related reactions; nanochemistry and nanotechnology; materials chemistry; CO₂ valorization; carbon-based materials; metal oxides; biomass
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Ruben Ramos Velarde

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REQUIMTE, Departamento de Química e Bioquímica, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
Interests: heterogenous catalysis; biomass conversion; metal-supported catalysts; biorefinery processes; green chemistry technologies

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Progress in catalytic development is focused on the search for more sustainable processes, replacing fossil resources by the use of renewable raw materials, elimination of waste, and avoiding the use of toxic and/or hazardous substances. The development of new efficient catalysts is also important and urgent, especially in catalytic biomass upgrading, water splitting, and CO₂ valorization processes. The use of sustainable carbonaceous materials as supports or intrinsic catalysts has become an alternative to precious metals in electrocatalysis as well as in the promising transformation of sustainable biomass resources into biofuels, chemicals, and bio-based materials. This Special Issue on “Catalytic Sustainable Processes Using Carbonaceous Materials” will focus on original research papers and short reviews on the development of new carbonaceous materials for catalytic biomass upgrading, water splitting, and (electro)chemical CO₂ conversion and valorization.

Dr. Andreia F. Peixoto
Dr. Diana M. Fernandes
Dr. Ruben Ramos Velarde
Guest Editors

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 2700 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

heterogeneous catalysis
electrocatalysis
biomass conversion
green chemistry
carbon-based materials
CO2 (electro)reduction
nanochemistry and nanotechnology
water splitting

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 6904 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Cobalt Phosphotungstate-Based Composites as Bifunctional Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reactions

by Ndrina Limani, Inês S. Marques, Bruno Jarrais, António J. S. Fernandes, Cristina Freire and Diana M. Fernandes

Catalysts 2022, 12(4), 357; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal12040357 - 23 Mar 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2615

Abstract

The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are key reactions in energy-converting systems, such as fuel cells (FCs) and water-splitting (WS) devices. However, the current use of expensive Pt-based electrocatalysts for ORR and IrO₂ and RuO₂ for OER is still a major drawback for the economic viability of these clean energy technologies. Thus, there is an incessant search for low-cost and efficient electrocatalysts (ECs). Hence, herein, we report the preparation, characterization (Raman, XPS, and SEM), and application of four composites based on doped-carbon materials (CM) and cobalt phosphotungstate (MWCNT_N8_Co4, GF_N8_Co4, GF_ND8_Co4, and GF_NS8_Co4) as ORR and OER electrocatalysts in alkaline medium (pH = 13). Structural characterization confirmed the successful carbon materials doping with N and/or N, S, and the incorporation of the cobalt phosphotungstate. Overall, all composites showed good ORR performance with onset potentials ranging from 0.83 to 0.85 V vs. RHE, excellent tolerance to methanol crossover with current retentions between 88 and 90%, and good stability after 20,000 s at E = 0.55 V vs. RHE (73% to 82% of initial current). In addition, the number of electrons transferred per O₂ molecule was close to four, suggesting selectivity to the direct process. Moreover, these composites also presented excellent OER performance with GF_N8_Co4 showing an overpotential of 0.34 V vs. RHE (for j = 10 mA cm⁻²) and j_max close to 70 mA cm⁻². More importantly, this electrocatalyst outperformed state-of-the-art IrO₂ electrocatalyst. Thus, this work represents a step forward toward bifunctional electrocatalysts using less expensive materials. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catalytic Sustainable Processes Using Carbonaceous Materials)

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18 pages, 6011 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Acid/Base-Treated Activated Carbon Catalysts for the Low-Temperature Endothermic Cracking of N-Dodecane with Applications in Hypersonic Vehicle Heat Management Systems

by Kyoung Ho Song, Soon Kwan Jeong, Byung Hun Jeong, Kwan-Young Lee and Hak Joo Kim

Catalysts 2020, 10(10), 1149; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal10101149 - 05 Oct 2020

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3921

Abstract

Hypersonic aircrafts suffer from heat management problems caused by the air friction produced at high speeds. The supercritical catalytic cracking of fuel is endothermic and can be exploited to remove heat from the aircraft surfaces using specially designed heat management systems. Here, we report that an acid/base-treated activated carbon (AC) catalyst shows superior performance to the conventional ZSM-5 catalyst at 4 MPa and 450 °C. Further, under these conditions, coke formation is thermodynamically avoided. Of the prepared catalysts, the AC catalyst treated with NaOH and subsequently with HNO₃ (denoted AC-3Na-N) was the most active catalyst, showing the highest selectivity toward light olefins and best heat sink capacity. The acid/base-treated ACs and ZSM-5 catalysts were characterized by scanning transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, NH₃ temperature-programmed desorption, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy measurements. Characterization reveals the importance of acid strength and density in promoting the cracking reaction pathway to light olefins observed over the acid/base-treated AC catalysts, which show comparable activity at 450 °C to that of the ZSM-5 catalyst operated above 550 °C. The low-temperature activity suppressed coke and aromatic compound (coke precursors) formation. The stability of the acid/base-treated activated carbon catalysts was confirmed over a time-on-stream of 30 min. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catalytic Sustainable Processes Using Carbonaceous Materials)

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20 pages, 3515 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of Biochar Composition and Source Material on Catalytic Performance: The Carboxylation of Glycerol with CO₂ as a Case Study

by Catherine Collett, Ondřej Mašek, Nurul Razali and James McGregor

Catalysts 2020, 10(9), 1067; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal10091067 - 17 Sep 2020

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 3239

Abstract

The impact of the chemical and physical composition of biochar catalysts is demonstrated in the carboxylation of glycerol with carbon dioxide for the first time, using acetonitrile as a dehydrating agent. Biochars are an important emerging class of catalytic material that can readily be produced from low-value biomass residues; however, the impact of feedstock choice is often overlooked. The ash content of biochar from three different feedstocks is shown to be catalytically active for the production of glycerol carbonate and triacetin, whilst low-ash catalysts such as soft wood biochar and commercial activated charcoal are inactive. Following treatment with hydrochloric acid, yields of glycerol carbonate over ash were reduced by over 94%, and triacetin was no longer produced. This has been attributed to the loss of potassium content. Carbon content was shown to be catalytically active for the synthesis of diacetin, and graphitic carbon may be beneficial. Through the development of structure–performance relationships, biomass feedstocks with the most suitable properties can therefore be selected to produce biochars for specific catalytic applications. This would expand the range of reactions which can be effectively catalysed by these materials and enhance the development of a more circular and sustainable chemicals industry. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catalytic Sustainable Processes Using Carbonaceous Materials)

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Review

Jump to: Research

66 pages, 6105 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceReview

Metal-Supported Biochar Catalysts for Sustainable Biorefinery, Electrocatalysis, and Energy Storage Applications: A Review

by Rubén Ramos, Víctor K. Abdelkader-Fernández, Renata Matos, Andreia F. Peixoto and Diana M. Fernandes

Catalysts 2022, 12(2), 207; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal12020207 - 09 Feb 2022

Cited by 33 | Viewed by 5472

Abstract

Biochar (BCH) is a carbon-based bio-material produced from thermochemical conversion of biomass. Several activation or functionalization methods are usually used to improve physicochemical and functional properties of BCHs. In the context of green and sustainable future development, activated and functionalized biochars with abundant surface functional groups and large surface area can act as effective catalysts or catalyst supports for chemical transformation of a range of bioproducts in biorefineries. Above the well-known BCH applications, their use as adsorbents to remove pollutants are the mostly discussed, although their potential as catalysts or catalyst supports for advanced (electro)catalytic processes has not been comprehensively explored. In this review, the production/activation/functionalization of metal-supported biochar (M-BCH) are scrutinized, giving special emphasis to the metal-functionalized biochar-based (electro)catalysts as promising catalysts for bioenergy and bioproducts production. Their performance in the fields of biorefinery processes, and energy storage and conversion as electrode materials for oxygen and hydrogen evolutions, oxygen reduction, and supercapacitors, are also reviewed and discussed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catalytic Sustainable Processes Using Carbonaceous Materials)

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