Carbon-Based Catalysts and Electrocatalysts: Synthesis and Applications

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2025 | Viewed by 916

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Chemical and Environmental Technology, ESCET, Rey Juan Carlos University, Tulipán s/n, 28933 Móstoles, Spain
Interests: 3D printing; chemical process simulation; carbon-based materials; nanostructured materials; magnetic composites; carbon electrodes; geopolymers; advanced oxidation processes; electro-Fenton; wastewater treatment; municipal solid wastes treatment and management; reactor modelling and design (kinetic modeling)
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Guest Editor
Mountain Research Centre (CIMO), Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 5300-253 Bragança, Portugal
Interests: carbon nanotubes; plastic solid waste valorization; advanced oxidation processes; wastewater treatment; oxidative desulfurization and denitrogenation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Carbon catalysts and electrocatalysts, the focus of this Special Issue, are essential in many fields of science, engineering, and technology, which is why papers reporting on “carbon materials” are published in journals in a wide range of specialties. The interest in carbon materials is related to the existence of several carbon sources, production methods, and widespread applications of carbon materials because of the ability of carbon atoms to form various bonding arrangements, yielding materials with diverse properties and applications. In addition, carbon materials can be easily tuned for specific applications.

Traditionally, carbon materials like activated carbons, carbon blacks, and graphitic materials have been integral to adsorption and heterogeneous catalysis, serving as catalyst supports or catalysts themselves. Activated carbons, renowned for their high surface area, excel as adsorbents in applications ranging from drinking water purification to gas filtration. However, their application in the catalyst market has gained increasing attention, especially for their use as catalyst supports. An example can be found in hydrogenation reactions. Carbon materials can be used to support precious metals, ensuring stability, good dispersion of particles, and easy metal recovery after use.

Moreover, carbon materials play a vital role in electrocatalysis, which is an expanding field with applications in energy conversion and storage. Electrocatalysts based on carbon materials exhibit promising performance in various electrochemical reactions, including the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). These materials offer high surface areas, excellent electrical conductivity, and tunable surface chemistry, making them attractive candidates for next-generation energy technologies.

Additionally, continuous advancements have led to the synthesis of novel carbon nanomaterials and composites day by day and their application across new and emerging scientific domains.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to provide readers with the latest research progress and state-of-the-art technologies developed in the synthesis, characterization, and applications of carbon materials in catalysis and electrocatalysis.

Dr. Jose L. Diaz De Tuesta
Dr. Fernanda Fontana Roman
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • char
  • activated carbon
  • carbon materials
  • nanostructured carbons
  • carbon composites
  • carbon catalysts
  • carbonaceous supports
  • activation methods
  • carbonization
  • graphitization
  • superporous materials
  • doped carbons
  • functionalized carbons
  • carbon surface chemistry
  • carbon molecular sieves
  • ordered mesoporous carbons
  • carbon-coated materials
  • carbon electrodes

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 3847 KiB  
Article
Preparation and Electrocatalytic Properties of One-Dimensional Nanorod-Shaped N, S Co-Doped Bimetallic Catalysts of FeCuS-N-C
by Hong Shi, Lina Wu, Qi Zhang, Yizhou Zhang, Wentao Sun, Chunbo Liu and Rongxian Zhang
Catalysts 2024, 14(12), 849; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal14120849 (registering DOI) - 23 Nov 2024
Abstract
Metal air batteries have gradually attracted public attention due to their advantages such as high power density, high energy density, high energy conversion efficiency, and clean and green products. Reasonable design of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts with high cost-effectiveness, high activity, and [...] Read more.
Metal air batteries have gradually attracted public attention due to their advantages such as high power density, high energy density, high energy conversion efficiency, and clean and green products. Reasonable design of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts with high cost-effectiveness, high activity, and high stability is of great significance. Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) have the advantages of large specific surface area, high porosity, and designability, which make them widely used in many fields, especially in catalysis. This paper starts with regulating and optimizing the composition and structure of MOFs. A series of N, S co-doped electrocatalysts FeCuS-N-C were prepared by two high-temperature pyrolysis processes using N-doped carbon hollow nanorods derived from ZIF-8 as the substrate. The one-dimensional nanorod material derived from this MOF exhibits excellent electrocatalytic ORR performance (Eonset = 0.998 V, E1/2 = 0.874 V). When used as the air cathode catalyst for zinc air batteries and assembled into liquid ZABs, the battery discharge curve was calculated and found to have a maximum power density of 142.7 mW cm−2, a specific capacity of 817.1 mAh gZn−1, and a cycling stability test of over 400 h. This study provides an innovative approach for designing and optimizing non-precious metal catalysts for zinc air batteries. Full article
14 pages, 14736 KiB  
Article
Modification of High-Surface-Area Carbons Using Self-Limited Atomic Layer Deposition
by Mengjie Fan, Kai Shen, Raymond J. Gorte and John M. Vohs
Catalysts 2024, 14(11), 786; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal14110786 - 5 Nov 2024
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Abstract
This study explores the application of Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) to functionalize high-surface-area carbon supports with metal and metal oxide films and particles for applications in catalysis and electrocatalysis. The work reported here demonstrates that, through careful choice of precursors and absorption and [...] Read more.
This study explores the application of Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) to functionalize high-surface-area carbon supports with metal and metal oxide films and particles for applications in catalysis and electrocatalysis. The work reported here demonstrates that, through careful choice of precursors and absorption and reaction conditions, self-limited ALD growth on a high-surface-area carbon support can be achieved. Specific examples presented include the growth of conformal films of ZrO2 and SnO2 and the deposition of Ga2O3 and Pt particles on a carbon black support with a surface area of 250 m2·g−1. A novel strategy for controlling the Pt weight loading and producing sub-nanometer Pt particles on a carbon support using a single ALD cycle is also presented. Full article
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