Nanostructured Composite and Hybrid Materials for Pollution Remediation and Bio-Waste Valorization

Dear Colleagues,

The development of novel and innovative sorptive and catalytic materials for environmental pollution remediation and waste biomass valorization is crucial in working towards a sustainable future. Enhancing materials’ performance properties (e.g., functionality and selective reactivity, low-energy activation, easier and faster access to the active sites, large surface area to volume ratio, stability and reusability) is of paramount importance, and has been a field of intense research effort in the last several decades. Low-dimensional materials such as metal nanoparticles, nanostructures, and nanoclusters are well-known to possess unique electronic and chemical properties, thus providing highly efficient nano-catalysts and nano-adsorbents compared to their larger bulk metals or metal oxides.

The knowledge-based design and synthesis of the next generation of nanostructured composites or hybrid materials for real-life applications in air or water pollution remediation and conversion of biomass-derived molecules can be achieved by tailoring key properties such as the structural, morphological, textural, electronic, and surface characteristics. Additionally, new features can be derived due to synergies in hybrid materials, for example when highly active molecular catalytic species are grafted on high-surface-area micro/mesoporous carbon or silica-based materials. Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) and periodic mesoporous organosilicas (PMOs) may exhibit high affinity towards specific molecules to be adsorbed and/or react owing to their unique structural and textural characteristics. Graphene oxides, carbides, nitrides, and related 2D materials spiked with single metal atoms or clusters have also shown unprecedented photo- and chemo-catalytic reactivities in relevant oxidation or hydrogenation reactions.

This Special Issue aims to collect contributions on novel nanostructured composites and hybrid materials with high performance in the removal—adsorptive or catalytic—of hazardous compounds, as well as in the conversion of biomass towards high-added-value chemicals, such as in the selective oxidation of hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), the hydrogenation of furans (furfural, HMF) to the corresponding furanics (methylfuran (MF), dimethylfuran (DMF), methyltetrahydrofuran (MTHF)), the hydrodeoxygenation of oxygenated bio-oil compounds towards alkane and hydrocarbon fuels, etc. Special emphasis should be given on the comprehensive characterization of the composites/hybrids in order to elucidate the structure–reactivity relationships or to rationalize the adsorption/desorption mechanisms, with the aid of advanced theoretical and computational chemistry studies. Within this context, we invite the submission of original research papers, communications, and review articles presenting the very latest developments and trends in the synthesis, characterization, and applications of nanostructured composite and hybrid materials for environment-oriented and biomass valorization applications by all active research groups in the field.

Dr. Dimitrios A. Giannakoudakis
Prof. Konstantinos S. Triantafyllidis
Guest Editors

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