Electrocatalysis/Photocatalysis for CO2 Conversion, H2 Production, and Pollutant Removal, 2nd Edition

A special issue of Catalysts (ISSN 2073-4344). This special issue belongs to the section "Electrocatalysis".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 April 2024) | Viewed by 1791

Special Issue Editors


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Department of Chemical Engineering, Konkuk University, 120 Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul 05029, Republic of Korea
Interests: electrocatalysis; electrocatalysts; fuel cell; CO2 conversion; carbon capture utilization (CCU)
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Guest Editor
Department of Environmental Engineering, National I-Lan University, Yilan 260007, Taiwan
Interests: application and development of catalyst and photocatalyst; air quality and water quality assessment; control and measurement of nanoparticle and surface studies
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Climate Change Research Division, Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER), 152 Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34129, Republic of Korea
Interests: electrochemical CO2 conversion; novel electrochemical systems for CO2 conversion; electrochemical CO2 conversion mechanism; heterogeneous electrocatalysis; chlor-alkali process; oxygen reduction reaction (ORR); CO2 mineralization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Following the first successful Special Issue on this topic (available here), we are happy to announce a second edition titled “Electrocatalysis/Photocatalysis for CO2 Conversion, H2 Production, and Pollutant Removal, 2nd Edition”.

Electrocatalysis/photocatalysis are the acceleration of electroreactions/photoreactions via heterogeneous electrocatalysts/ photocatalysts to produce valuable chemicals or decompose harmful materials. Above all, electrocatalysis/photocatalysis have been considered as promising strategies for CO2-derived chemical and H2 production, which could provide various approaches to alleviate serious environmental problems, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and produce an alternative green fuel. CO2, which is the inevitable product resulting from fossil fuel consumption and occupies more than 70% of the total amount of greenhouse gases, causes global warming, a phenomenon induced by the release of CO2 and other greenhouse gases, leading to climate change, the melting of icebergs, and the rise of sea levels, which threatens human life and disturbs the ecosystem. To alleviate this environmental problem, efficient catalytic processes for CO2 conversion or alternative green fuel production have to be studied and developed. The utilization of electricity or solar energy as sources for catalysis provides encouraging approaches to produce fuels and chemicals from carbon-based sources as well as H2. The electrocatalytic/photocatalytic conversion of CO2 can be a more environmentally friendly approach for the production of CO2-derived chemicals, such as formic acid, carbon monoxide, syngas, ethylene, various alcohols, and organic acids. In addition, H2 production via water splitting is one of most prominent methodologies which has been carried out for past few decades. As mentioned above, not only the production of chemicals and fuels, but also the decomposition of harmful organic pollutants can be achieved via electrocatalysis/photocatalysis. These are promising technologies which improve the indoor air quality and/or degrade water pollutants.

This Special Issue will provide information about novel advanced electrocatalysts/photocatalysts for efficient CO2 conversion, H2 production, and pollutant removal. Thus, we welcome papers focusing on diverse synthesis methods and novel designs of crystal structures for electrocatalysts/photocatalysts to improve their electrochemical/photochemical performance with high stability, as well as theoretical reaction mechanisms at the molecular level occurring on well-designed catalytic surfaces. We encourage the submission of all types of papers including communications, research, and review papers covering all topics of innovative electrocatalysts/photocatalysts and their environmental applications.

Prof. Dr. Ki Tae Park
Prof. Dr. Chang-Tang Chang
Dr. Wonhee Lee
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • electrocatalysis
  • photocatalysis
  • photoelectrocatalysis
  • electrocatalyst
  • photocatalyst
  • carbon dioxide conversion
  • carbon capture and utilization (CCU)
  • hydrogen production
  • pollutant removal

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 13134 KiB  
Article
Flower-like Titanium Dioxide/Cellulose Acetate Nanofibers for Catalytic Decomposition of Organic Pollutants Including Particulate Matter Removal
by Yun-Tso Ko, Jao Jancen B. Ruiz, Rhoda B. Leron and Chang-Tang Chang
Catalysts 2024, 14(4), 233; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal14040233 - 31 Mar 2024
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Abstract
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are common organic pollutants that can cause adverse effects on human health. Treatment techniques, including photocatalytic oxidation, have been studied to remediate VOCs. Acetone was used as a model pollutant to investigate the photocatalytic degradation performance of electrospun photocatalytic [...] Read more.
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are common organic pollutants that can cause adverse effects on human health. Treatment techniques, including photocatalytic oxidation, have been studied to remediate VOCs. Acetone was used as a model pollutant to investigate the photocatalytic degradation performance of electrospun photocatalytic nanofibers with synthesized flower-like titanium dioxide (F-TiO2) and cellulose acetate (CA). The synthesized F-TiO2 and photocatalytic nanofibers were characterized using FE-SEM, XRD, FTIR, UVVis, XPS, and a pore size and porosity analyzer. The addition of F-TiO2 decreases the diameter of the nanofibers. The photocatalytic degradation performance test showed an enhanced acetone degradation efficiency on F-TiO2/CA photocatalytic nanofibers (FT-CFs), with an up to 95.0% acetone degradation efficiency under optimum conditions, over P25 TiO2/CA photocatalytic nanofibers (T-CFs). The filtration efficiency of 3.0%FT-CF reached 99.9% with a filter basis weight of 0.660 g m−2 and face velocity of 5.0 cm−1 s. The filtration and photocatalytic degradation cycle tests revealed excellent reusability, with 97% particle filtration and no sign of material deterioration. Moreover, the biodegradability tests showed that the material can biodegrade in water and in soil for 30 and 40 days, respectively. This study demonstrates that electrospun FT-CFs exhibit exceptional photocatalytic degradation of acetone, a high filtration efficiency, excellent reusability, and biodegradability, making them a promising solution for VOC remediation. Full article
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12 pages, 3981 KiB  
Article
Study on the Inhibition of Hydrogen Evolution Reaction by Electrocatalytic Reduction of Carbon Dioxide Using Elsholtzia Harchowensis Biochar
by Wei Liu, Shiqi Chen, Ziwei Mei, Liang Li and Hong Tao
Catalysts 2024, 14(3), 172; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal14030172 - 27 Feb 2024
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Abstract
With the widespread application of plant remediation technology in the field of soil remediation, there was an increasing stock of hyperaccumulating plant tissues containing heavy metals, but there was currently a lack of effective disposal methods. In the preliminary research process, researchers used [...] Read more.
With the widespread application of plant remediation technology in the field of soil remediation, there was an increasing stock of hyperaccumulating plant tissues containing heavy metals, but there was currently a lack of effective disposal methods. In the preliminary research process, researchers used the copper hyperaccumulating plant Elsholtzia Harchowensis to prepare biochar material electrodes and successfully used them in the electrocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) process. Due to the previous research being conducted in aqueous solutions, the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) on the working electrode surface has a certain impact on the Faraday efficiency (FE) of carbon-containing products. In order to further improve the electrocatalytic reduction performance of biochar materials, this study was based on B- and N-doped biochar prepared from Elsholtzia Harchowensis as raw material. The influence mechanisms of electrode surface hydrophobicity and electrolyte components (PC/water) on the CO2RR and HER were studied, respectively. After dropwise coating PTFE on the surface of Cu/C-BN material, the hydrophobicity of Cu/C-BN-PT material was improved, and the effect on the active sites of the catalyst was relatively small without changing the structure and elemental characteristics of the original electrode. In a 1.0 M KHCO3 solution, the Faraday efficiency of H2 in Cu/C-BN-PT material decreased by 20.1% compared to Cu/C-BN at −0.32 V (vs. RHE), indicating that changing the hydrophilicity of the material can significantly inhibit the HER. In a solution of PC/water at a ratio of 9:1 (V:V), the FE of converting CO2 to methane (CH4) at −0.32 V (vs. RHE) reached 12.0%, and the FE of carbon monoxide (CO) reached 64.7%. The HER was significantly inhibited, significantly improving the selectivity of electrocatalytic CO2. Full article
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