Nanomaterial Catalysts for Clean Energy Conversion and Carbon Neutrality

Dear Colleagues,

The ever-growing human population, along with the rapid development of several countries, has resulted in a steady increase in energy demand. Currently, energy is obtained from fossil fuels, whose consumption releases CO₂ into the atmosphere. This increase in CO₂ concentration, associated with global warming, needs to be mitigated. One interesting approach to reducing CO₂ emissions consists of the capture, storage, and subsequent transformation of this molecule into high-value chemical products or fuels, which can be carried out by photochemical, thermochemical, biochemical, or electrochemical routes. These approaches can be performed at mild conditions for the reduction of CO₂ to organic compounds. In addition, the carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO₂RR) can make use of the surplus of renewable electricity to produce valuable fuels and chemicals.

One of the most critical barriers to the practical application of this technology is its reaction complexity, leading to the production of CO, methane, methanol, formic acid, ethylene, ethanol, etc.; therefore, previous research efforts have mostly focused on developing nanostructural catalysts that are able to achieve the active, selective, and stable conversion of CO₂ into a single-target product. Apart from the nature of metals (noble, transition and p-block), heteroatom-doped carbon, and other materials, the configuration of nano-catalysts and reactors has been found to play an important role in the CO₂ reduction capability. This Special Issue, “Nanomaterial Catalysts for Clean Energy Conversion and Carbon Neutrality”, will gather and present a collection of relevant articles, which may also be published in a printed book format. We invite the submission of original research articles and reviews to this Special Issue. Research areas of interest include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Mechanism studies of CO₂ reduction;
• Mechanism studies of the formation of major C1 and C2 products;
• Surface crystallography and product selectivity;
• Selectivity and rational design;
• Conversion of CO₂ to chemicals, materials, and fuels;
• Intermediate species during CO₂RR;
• Energetics of the CO₂ reduction reaction;
• CO₂ hydrogenation;
• Catalysis theories and experiments.

Prof. Dr. César Augusto Correia de Sequeira
Prof. Dr. Zhong Jin
Prof. Dr. Fabrizio Pirri
Guest Editors

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