Noble Metal Catalysts

Dear Colleagues,

Noble metals (NMs), i.e., ruthenium (Ru), rhodium (Rh), palladium (Pd), silver (Ag), osmium (Os), Iridium (Ir) platinum (Pt) and gold (Au), receive a great deal of research interest due to their remarkable, and in many cases unique, performances in numerous catalytic reaction systems, embracing both industrial reactions for the large-scale synthesis of commodity chemicals of global importance, as well as reactions that play a critical role in environmental protection and energy generation systems. A short list of NM-catalyzed reactions of great importance includes:

• Emissions control catalysis, such as CO or hydrocarbon oxidations, NO_x (NO+NO₂) reduction in three-way catalysts under rich or lean conditions, and N₂O abatement in the absence or presence of excess oxygen;
• Steam-, dry (CO₂)- or multireforming reactions for syngas and/or hydrogen production, implementations in which the high activity of noble metals is accompanied by their typical very low propensity for carbon formation/accumulation—the main problem responsible for reforming catalysts deactivation;
• H₂ electro-oxidation for electrical power production in low-to-intermediate temperature proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEM-FCs);
• Water oxidation electrocatalysis (i.e., oxygen or hydrogen evolution reaction, HER/OER) that has received much attention in the last few years because of its prime role in water splitting, rechargeable metal–air batteries and fuel cells for electrical power generation;
• Olefins epoxidation, asymmetric hydrogenation, transfer hydrogenation, allylic substitution, and C–H borylation reactions for the synthesis of natural products, and so on.

Heterogeneous catalytic applications which utilize noble metals are currently receiving renewed interest as a result of ongoing progress in nanotechnology and catalysts promotion strategies that provide efficient ways to fine-tune the surface morphology and electronic properties of metal nanoparticles, thus further enhancing their catalytic activity and also their time-on-stream stability, even at high temperatures. Advanced synthesis methods provide means for the production of highly dispersed, up to atomic level, noble metal particles on active supports, maximizing the population of active centers and enhancing beneficial metal–support interactions, resulting in cost-effective high performance and robust catalytic materials.              

This Special Issue aims to cover recent research progress, both theoretical and experimental, in the field of catalysis by noble metals. Advanced synthesis routes, physicochemical–textural–structural characterization of NM-based catalytic materials, activity–selectivity–durability evaluation under the titled reactions, fundamental understanding of structure–activity relationships or other metal–metal and metal–support interactions on multifunctional noble metal catalysts, as well as computational studies (e.g., DFT calculations), catalytic reaction mechanisms, and processes are very welcome.

Prof. Dr. Ioannis V. Yentekakis
Prof. Dr. Georgios Kyriakou
Guest Editors

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• Catalysis by noble metals 
• Noble metal electrocatalysis 
• Nano-structured noble metal catalysts 
• Au-based catalysts 
• Platinum group metal catalysts 
• Advanced synthesis routes of NM-catalysts 
• Structural textural physicochemical characterizations of NM nanocatalysts 
• NM-catalysts promotion
• Metal–metal and metal–support interactions 
• Noble metal catalysts for energy applications 
• Emissions control catalysis by NMs 
• Methane reforming by noble metals 
• Olefins epoxidation 
• Noble metal-based electrodes and fuel cells