Sustainable Electrochemical Materials and Processes

Dear Colleagues,

Climate change is causing increasing floods, drought, wildfires, and hurricanes. Over the past 50 years, climate and weather-related disasters have surged five-fold. Climate change is forcasted to cut world economy by $23 trillion by 2050. Our climate challenge is largely an energy challenge, as energy accounts for over 66% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Industrial processes such as the Haber-Bosch process (for producing nitrogen fertilizers) alone accounts for 1.4% of global CO₂ emissions and consumes 1% of the world’s total energy production. Chemistry and materials science are key to building a sustainable circular economy, by utilizing renewable energy, designing zero-waste reactions, maximising energy efficiencies and lifecycles, and developing functional materials. This special issue will include original research in sustainable electrochemistry. Example research topics include but not limited to:

• Electrochemical reactions powered by renewable energy sources (e.g., solar and wind)
• Enhanced energy efficiency (or reaction yield) in electrochemical processes via rational design of solvents, electro-catalysts, interfacial structures or system setups
• Implementation of magnetism into electrochemistry (i.e., Lorentz effects)
• Using photoelectrochemistry or plasma electrochemistry to activate inert molecules and to create new reaction pathways
• Advances in energy harnessing, storage, and conversion via electrochemical methods (e.g., triboelectrics, hydrogen production, fuel cells, and batteries)
• Advances in electrochemical processes or devices that solve environmental challenges, such as capturing and converting CO₂, generating fertilizers, breaking down plastics, making biofuels, treating water, preventing air pollution, or detecting environmental contaminants.
• Electrochemical remediation of environmental pollutants and toxins

Research articles in this special issue will not only demonstrate advancement in developing electrochemical materials and processes, but they contribute to solving energy- and climate challenges.

Dr. Haihui Joy Jiang
Dr. Jeffrey G. Bell
Dr. Thomas C. Underwood
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-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2400 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.