Advances in Heterocatalysis by Nanomaterials

Heterogeneous catalysis played plays and will continue to play a major key role in industrial processes for large-scale synthesis of commodity chemicals of global importance and in catalytic systems that possess a critical role in energy generation and environmental protection approaches. As a result of the ongoing progress in materials science nanotechnology and characterizations great advances have been achieved in heterogeneous catalysis by nanomaterials. Efficient approaches and advanced methods for the design of nano-structured composite materials (up to atomic level) subject to specific nano-morphologies with enhanced metal-metal and metal-support interactions favorable for catalysis (that enable fine-tuning of the critical properties of the designed catalysts) provide optimized catalysts with outstanding performances in numerous eco-friendly and cost-effective applications. Accordingly great progress has been achieved involving for example emissions control waste treatment photocatalytic bio-refinery CO2 utilization and fuel cells applications as well as hydrocarbon processing for H2 added-value chemicals and liquid fuels production. The themed Special Issue has succeeded in collecting 10 high-quality contributions that cover recent research progress in the field for a variety of applications (e.g. environment energy added-value chemicals/organics synthesis and bio-transformation) declaring the prospect and importance of nanomaterials in all the directions of heterogeneous catalysis.