Towards Artificial Photosynthesis: Sustainable Hydrogen Utilization for Photocatalytic Reduction of CO2 to High-Value Renewable Fuels

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 July 2023) | Viewed by 3385

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Institute of Research and Development, Duy Tan University, Da Nang 550000, Viet Nam
Interests: CO2 hydrogenation; high-value chemical; photocatalyst; reactor design

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Co-Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mie University, Tsu 5148507, Mie, Japan
Interests: smart city utilizing renewable energy; electro-chemical energy processes; heat and mass transfer processes; renewable energy based electrolytic hydrogen production; fuel cell technologies; smart city orientation for wind and solar energy applications; photocatalytic CO2 reduction
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Solar-driven CO2 reduction into high-value fuels has emerged as a hot-spot research topic in an attempt to deal with the environmental crisis over the past few decades. Hitherto, various pathways have been developed to promote CO2 reduction. However, the performance of current catalysts has still been low due to the utilized material and reactor. Utilization of sustainable hydrogen has turned out to be a promising approach to boost CO2 reduction in terms of solar conversion efficiency and selectivity. Thus, the generation of high-value chemicals produced in CO2 reduction reaction is feasible with the assistance of hydrogen. Therefore, this approach offers great opportunities for the generation of high-value chemicals from CO2. In this context, the exploration of robust materials and proper catalytic reactors has been considered the key component to address those aforementioned restrictions.

This Special Issue aims at providing novel approaches toward photocatalytic CO2 reduction associated with sustainable hydrogen. This issue will cover state-of-the-art development of material-, reactor-, and theoretical-related investigations in the field the solar-driven hydrogenation of CO2.

Dr. Chinh Chien Nguyen
Dr. Akira Nishimura
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • CO2 hydrogenation
  • high-value chemical
  • photocatalyst
  • reactor design

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

49 pages, 11759 KiB  
Review
Role of Nanocellulose in Light Harvesting and Artificial Photosynthesis
by Pieter Samyn, Vibhore Kumar Rastogi, Neelisetty Sesha Sai Baba and Jürgen Van Erps
Catalysts 2023, 13(6), 986; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal13060986 - 08 Jun 2023
Viewed by 2612
Abstract
Artificial photosynthesis has rapidly developed as an actual field of research, mimicking natural photosynthesis processes in plants or bacteria to produce energy or high-value chemicals. The nanocelluloses are a family of biorenewable materials that can be engineered into nanostructures with favorable properties to [...] Read more.
Artificial photosynthesis has rapidly developed as an actual field of research, mimicking natural photosynthesis processes in plants or bacteria to produce energy or high-value chemicals. The nanocelluloses are a family of biorenewable materials that can be engineered into nanostructures with favorable properties to serve as a host matrix for encapsulation of photoreactive moieties or cells. In this review, the production of different nanocellulose structures such as films, hydrogels, membranes, and foams together with their specific properties to function as photosynthetic devices are described. In particular, the nanocellulose’s water affinity, high surface area and porosity, mechanical stability in aqueous environment, and barrier properties can be tuned by appropriate processing. From a more fundamental viewpoint, the optical properties (transparency and haze) and interaction of light with nanofibrous structures can be further optimized to enhance light harvesting, e.g., by functionalization or appropriate surface texturing. After reviewing the basic principles of natural photosynthesis and photon interactions, it is described how they can be transferred into nanocellulose structures serving as a platform for immobilization of photoreactive moieties. Using photoreactive centers, the isolated reactive protein complexes can be applied in artificial bio-hybrid nanocellulose systems through self-assembly, or metal nanoparticles, metal-organic frameworks, and quantum dots can be integrated in nanocellulose composites. Alternatively, the immobilization of algae or cyanobacteria in nanopaper coatings or a porous nanocellulose matrix allows to design photosynthetic cell factories and advanced artificial leaves. The remaining challenges in upscaling and improving photosynthesis efficiency are finally addressed in order to establish a breakthrough in utilization of nanocellulose for artificial photosynthesis. Full article
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