Advanced Carbon Materials For Catalytical Applications

Dear Colleagues,

Carbon research and technology has seen extraordinary advances in last few decades, leading to the synthesis of a wide variety of carbon materials that present different properties, depending on their structure, texture, chemistry, shape, size, etc., which has allowed broadening their application possibilities in different fields of electronics, biomedical, energy, chemical and environmental technologies. Heterogeneous catalysis has a relevant role in many chemical, electrochemical, photochemical and biological processes. The possibility of tailoring the physical surface characteristics and pore size distribution, and of modifying the surface chemistry during their synthesis, makes carbon materials suitable, not only as catalyst supports, but as catalysts themselves, satisfying most of the requirements for many different catalytical applications, given that these materials show also chemical and thermal stability and mechanical resistance. Exploiting the chemical surface properties of carbon materials by surface functionalization, allowing the introduction of different heteroatoms (oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, boron) on the carbon surface that improves anchoring, immobilizing and/or dispersing the catalytic active phase to the carbon support or adds specific functionalities, is also a powerful tool when designing carbon-supported catalysts and/or carbon catalysts, strongly influencing the catalytic behavior in terms of conversion, selectivity, stability, etc.

Controlling the structural order, size and conformation of carbon materials may lead to significant changes in catalytic behavior. Thus, nanoarchitectures like those of graphene and carbon nanotubes may present different catalytical properties than those of activated carbons, carbon aerogels or xerogels. Carbon material morphology is also of great importance for catalytical applications, in order to avoid reactor pressure drop and transport limitations and, in this sense, different physical forms of carbons can be produced, such as granules, pellets, monoliths, fibers, cloths, spheres, etc. On the other hand, carbon materials can be synthetized from many different precursors such as coals, hydrocarbons, oil and coal derivatives, biomass, agro-alimentary and agroforestry industrial waste, etc. The nature of carbon precursors and the synthesis route and operation conditions play an important role in the final carbon material properties and characteristics that control and govern the catalytical applications.

This Special Issue deals with the study of advanced carbon materials for catalytical applications, covering materials preparation, functionalization, characterization, engineering and applications in the field of heterogeneous catalysis, such as catalysis, electrocatalysis, photocatalysis, biocatalysis, environmental remediation, etc.

It is our pleasure to invite you to submit original research papers, short communications or state-of-the-art reviews within the scope of this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. José Rodríguez-Mirasol
Prof. Dr. Juana María Rosas
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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