Dear Colleagues,

In recent decades, humankind has been confronted with two important issues: (i) the increased need for cheap and sustainable energy sources and (ii) the intensification of environmental pollution. Therefore, all around the world, researchers are constantly trying to transform renewable raw materials into fuels with high caloric power and to eliminate pollutants from air, water, and soil by designing and applying selective catalytic processes. Oxides, mixed oxides, composites containing oxide components, and metals supported on oxide carriers are among the most utilized catalysts for these processes. Other advanced catalysts for such processes are inorganic–organic hybrid structures such as biomimetic metal complexes confined in inorganic lattices or functionalized graphene oxide.

This Special Issue aims to update the findings related to oxide-containing materials, and on hybrid materials employed as catalysts for the production of ecological fuels and in environmental protection, respectively. Special attention is directed at the development of such catalysts by waste valorization, since this sustainable approach would enable both an economy of natural resources and a diminution of energy consumption in the synthesis of these materials. The design of modified layered double hydroxides and perovskite structures, including thin-film heterostructures, also leads to a wide range of new materials which can act as catalysts for the production of hydrogen and other ecological fuels, and for the degradation of organic pollutants from liquid and gaseous effluents. Moreover, progresses in the synthesis of supported metal catalysts with nanodispersed metal active species are thought to bring important contributions to the increase of catalytic efficiency.

Taking into account the aforementioned aspects, I cordially invite you to contribute your recent works (review articles, original papers, and communications) to this Special Issue on oxide catalysts for energy and environmental applications, including but not limited to the following materials-oriented categories:

• LDH-derived mixed oxides and/or LDHs-composites;
• Perovskites and/or perovskite composites;
• Catalysts obtained from waste materials;
• Oxometallate-based materials;
• Supported metal catalysts;
• Inorganic–organic hybrid materials.

Dr. Rodica Zavoianu
Guest Editor

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• ecologic fuels
• decontamination
• metal oxides catalysts
• supported metal catalysts
• waste valorization