Materials for Renewable Fuels Production

Achieving net zero carbon dioxide emissions globally by 2050 necessitates development of sustainable approaches such as fuel production using renewable energy. A wide range of renewable fuel production technologies have emerged over the past 5 decades. Nevertheless, challenges posed by materials, particularly the catalysts, have come out to be detrimental to the commercial viability of the technologies. Recent innovations in novel low dimensional materials and three-dimensional nano and micro-scale architectures offering unique properties have given rise to electro-, photo-, and thermo-catalysts with unprecedented activities and long-term stability. During this exciting time for renewable fuel production technologies, APL launches this special topic as a platform to present new developments in the physics of such materials applied to fuel generation processes using different forms of renewable energy.

Guest Editors: Oomman K. Varghese, Joost Smits, Kazunari Domen and Wojciech Lipinski