Design of Catalytic Surfaces for Waste Valorization

Dear Colleagues,

The global need for sustainable processes has driven significant interest in the design and optimization of catalytic surfaces for the efficient transformation of waste materials into valuable chemicals and fuels. The development of heterogeneous catalysts with tailored surface properties plays a key role in advancing waste valorization strategies. These catalysts enable selective and energy-efficient transformations, thereby contributing to the circular economy and reducing environmental impact.

Catalytic surfaces play a fundamental role in many chemical processes, influencing reaction rates, selectivity, and stability. The rational design of these surfaces, incorporating active sites with controlled electronic and geometric properties, is essential to improve catalytic performance. Advances in surface engineering, including nanoparticle dispersion, functionalization, and support interactions, provide new pathways to optimize catalytic activity for waste valorization applications.

Moreover, the increasing volume of industrial and agro-industrial waste presents both an environmental challenge and an opportunity to develop innovative catalytic solutions. By converting waste into valuable products, catalytic technologies can reduce landfill accumulation, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and promote resource efficiency. Understanding the physicochemical interactions at catalytic interfaces is crucial for tailoring materials that enhance conversion efficiency and selectivity in waste valorization processes.

This Special Issue aims to highlight recent advances in the development, characterization, and application of catalytic surfaces for the valorization of industrial and agro-industrial waste. This approach aligns with the scope of the journal by exploring both the fundamental and applied aspects of surface science in catalysis, encompassing the design of active sites, the control of textural properties, and the study of reaction mechanisms, all of which are crucial for optimizing catalytic performance.

We cordially invite researchers to submit original research articles and reviews to this Special Issue, “Design of Catalytic Surfaces for Waste Valorization”. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Design and synthesis of catalytic surfaces for waste conversion: Development of novel catalytic materials tailored for specific waste valorization processes. Strategies for incorporating active metals, metal oxides, and nanostructured materials to enhance reactivity and stability.
• Surface modifications to enhance catalytic activity and selectivity: Chemical and physical modifications of catalyst surfaces to improve performance. Use of dopants, supports, and functional groups to fine-tune selectivity in targeted reactions.
• Characterization techniques for catalytic materials: Advanced spectroscopic and microscopic techniques, such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and in situ spectroscopy, for investigating the physicochemical properties of catalytic surfaces.
• Mechanistic studies on catalytic reactions involving waste-derived feedstocks: Fundamental investigations into reaction pathways, active site identification, and kinetic modeling to optimize catalytic efficiency for converting biomass, plastics, and industrial byproducts.
• Applications of catalysts in biomass and plastic waste valorization: Case studies on the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass, polymeric waste, and other residues into fuels, chemicals, and value-added products. Development of catalytic processes for upcycling waste streams.
• Computational approaches for catalyst design and surface interactions: Theoretical and computational modeling of catalyst surfaces, including density functional theory (DFT) and molecular dynamics simulations, to predict catalyst behavior and guide experimental development.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. María Roxana Morales
Dr. Luis E. Cadus
Guest Editors

Dr. Matías Gastón Rinaudo
Guest Editor Assistant 

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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Surfaces is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly 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 1600 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.

• catalytic surfaces
• heterogeneous catalysis
• waste valorization
• surface properties
• sustainable chemistry
• biomass conversion
• industrial waste recycling