Perovskites in Catalysis and Electrocatalysis

Dear Colleagues,

In light of the growing global concerns surrounding the energy crisis and environment pollution, tremendous efforts have been made to explore high-efficiency technologies for chemical transformations and energy conversions, the majority of which depend heavily on various catalytic processes. Catalysis is essential for addressing energy and environmental challenges, including the reduction of fossil fuel emissions and the production of sustainable fuels and chemicals in addition to the electrochemical production of materials and molecules that can store greater energy at various scales. Electrochemical reduction of H₂O, N₂, and CO₂ to make high-density energy carriers or sustainable fuels (e.g., H₂, NH₃, and C_xH_yO_z species) would not only empower large-scale energy storage but also enable distributed energy generation and synthesis of chemicals and materials. On the whole, catalysts for chemical and electrochemical reactions are essential to many aspects of modern technology and industry. This role necessitates the design of highly active yet stable earth-abundant (electro)catalysts.

Perovskite oxides are a family of functional metal oxides with a general formula of ABO₃, where the larger A-site cations are commonly rare-earth or alkaline earth metals with 12-fold oxygen coordination, and the smaller B-site cations are commonly transition metals with 6-fold oxygen coordination. More than 90% of the elements in the periodic table can be doped into the A, B, or O sites, leading to a large family of oxides with highly diversified properties. In addition to the primary crystal structure with ideal cubic symmetry, other multiple structures can also be formed in perovskite oxides. By tailoring the compositions and structures of the perovskite oxides, a variety of interesting physical properties, e.g., ferroelectric, pyroelectric, piezoelectric, electrical, optical, magnetic, catalytic, photovoltaic, mixed conducting and superconducting properties, can be created toward use in a wide range of applications.

The flexibility of the chemical versatility and crystal structure of perovskites can be used to establish design principles for highly active, selective, and stable (electro)catalysts. Through careful material design of perovskites, the electronic structure can be tuned according to the thermodynamic energies of a variety of reactions to minimize chemical and electrochemical reaction barriers. Bridging perovskite electronic structure with catalysis has promoted comprehensive understanding of catalytic processes, such as surface energetics, activity trends, molecular orbital descriptors, and catalytic mechanistic insights.

Prof. Dr. Yinlong Zhu
Dr. Xiaoguang Duan
Guest Editors

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• Perovskite oxides (e.g., single/double perovskites and other perovskite-based oxides)
• Environmental catalysis (e.g., CO/hydrocarbon/NO oxidation)
• Electrocatalysis (e.g., ORR, OER, HER, CO₂RR, NRR, and other small organic molecules oxidation reactions)
• Advanced oxidation processes (e.g., photocatalysis, Fenton and Fenton-like reactions)
• Electrochemical energy devices (e.g., fuel cells, metal–air batteries, water electrolysis)
• Property–activity correlation.
• Electronic and crystal structures
• Identification of (electro)catalytic sites and mechanisms