Photo/Electrocatalytic Performance of Novel Transition-Metal Oxide Based Electrocatalysts

Dear Colleagues, 

Due to industrial growth in emerging economies, the extensive utilization of fossil fuels has been the major source of environmental pollution and the energy crisis. Thus, transforming solar energy into chemicals through photosynthesis has been considered the favorable approach to tackle the situation. Material selection for photo/electrochemical applications is critical, provided that photoelectrodes absorb incident photons and generate the charge carriers, and that they are economical for practical applications. In recent decades, transition metal oxides, especially TiO₂-, WO₃-, BiVO₄-, and Fe₂O₃-based catalyst materials, have been widely studied in many research fields, such as catalysis, photocatalysis, electrocatalysis, water splitting, electrochemical CO₂ conversion, etc. In recent decades, oxynitrides-based photoanodes have been demonstrated as alternatives for oxide-based electrodes to grasp visible-light photons to produce solar fuels from water at the stoichiometric ratio. These materials have usually been synthesized through simple and cost-effective methods such as hydro/solvothermal methods, co-precipitation methods, sonochemical methods, combustion methods, sol-gel methods, and solid-state methods. Due to their unique features, including physicochemical properties, stable crystal structure, high photostability, good catalytic convertor ability, and high electronic conductivity, transition metal oxides-based catalytic materials have been extensively investigated in photo/electrochemical applications.

This Special Issue aims to cover all types of transition metal oxides and oxynitrides used in photo/electrochemical applications. This includes their synthesis, characterization, property evaluation, composite material synthesis, CO₂ conversion to value-added products, pharmaceutical pollutant degradation and degradation through photo/electrocatalytic oxidations and reductions, and photodegradation applications. The Issue also concerns experimental and theoretical evaluations to understand the photo/electrocatalytic reaction kinetics of potential catalysts. Original research papers, short communications, and review articles are invited for submission.

Dr. Prabhakarn Arunachalam
Dr. Chelladurai Karuppiah
Dr. P.N. Sudha
Guest Editors

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