Wood to Watts: Forest Carbon Materials for a Net-Zero Future
A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Wood Science and Forest Products".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2027 | Viewed by 1
Editors
Interests: biomass-derived carbon; functionalized applications of graphene and carbon nanotubes; transition metal-based nanocomposites
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Forests not only function as the lungs of the Earth but also act as a vast, renewable reservoir of carbon-rich biomass. As the global community strives to attain net-zero emissions, the transformation of forest resources into functional carbon materials has emerged as an innovative approach that combines forestry science, materials engineering, and environmental technologies. Wood-derived carbon materials, which are characterized by their naturally hierarchical porous structures, renewability, and inherent carbon skeletons, offer distinct advantages for carbon-negative manufacturing and various environmental applications that support decarbonization.
This Special Issue, “Wood to Watts: Forest Carbon Materials for a Net-Zero Future”, aims to gather cutting-edge research on the sustainable conversion of forest biomass and woody materials into high-performance carbon products that directly contribute to climate change mitigation and renewable systems. We welcome submissions that explore the entire value chain, from forest feedstock selection and sustainable harvesting, through thermochemical conversion and functionalization strategies, to device‑level integration and life-cycle assessment.
The scope of this topic encompasses, yet is not restricted to:
- Wood-derived carbons for environmental remediation and carbon sequestration;
- Forest-biomass-based carbon catalysts for green chemical processes;
- Wood carbon materials
- Biochar and engineered forest-carbon composites for soil enhancement and pollution control;
- Advanced characterization and computational modeling of wood carbon structures and properties;
- Sustainable forest management and supply‑chain optimization for carbon material feedstocks;
- Life‑cycle assessment, carbon footprint analysis, and techno‑economic evaluation;
- Emerging forest-biomass conversion technologies (such as hydrothermal carbonization, pyrolysis, activation, and chemical vapor deposition).
This Special Issue aims to expedite the transition from forest biomass to functional carbon materials, illustrating how forestry can contribute to a net-zero future, not merely as a carbon sink but also as a sustainable source of materials for environmental and climate solutions.
We expect original research articles, comprehensive reviews, short communications, and perspectives that tackle the scientific, technological, and sustainability challenges at the intersection of forest resources and carbon materials for environmental applications.
Prof. Dr. Yongfeng Luo
Dr. Jie Ouyang
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
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-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests 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 2600 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
- wood-derived carbon materials
- forest biomass conversion
- carbon neutrality
- net-zero emissions
- wood-derived carbon catalysts
- CO2 reduction
- biochar
- carbon sequestration
- wood-derived porous carbon
- sustainable forest management
- pyrolysis
- activation
- life-cycle assessment
- circular bioeconomy
- forest carbon sink
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