Motivated by the increasingly severe effects of climate change, recent international agreements have set a carbon neutrality target for 2050. To meet such objectives, solar energy is a main candidate as a renewable and abundant energy source. Apart from direct conversion to electricity by means of photovoltaics, it can be stored in heat or fuels, thus circumventing its intermittent nature. In this regard, recent studies are addressing the limitations of traditional materials for such technologies by employing single atom catalysts (SACs) acting as bridges between homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis. This concept allows not only limiting the amount of precious catalyst materials (i.e., Pt, Ru, Rh), but also boosting the activity of Earth-abundant ones (i.e., Fe, Ni, Co). The use of SACs has already shown great potential in various renewable energy conversion processes and holds great potential for further development.
The goal of this research topic is to increase the understanding of the scientific community on SACs, including morphological/electronic properties of single atoms, the corresponding effects on their performance, the stability under operation, etc. Such issues require detailed studies making use of advanced experimental characterization techniques, such as high-resolution TEM, in-operando XPS or EPR, as well as numerical methods. Moreover, the full potential of SACs needs to be uncovered in various applications involving solar energy harvesting and storage or electrochemical routes, which therefore require further investigations.
The scope of this topic is to collect experimental and/or numerical studies focusing on various aspects of SACs, including: detailed morphological and electronic investigation of the single atom/support interface; discussion of the oxidation states of single atoms and the consequential effect on catalytic activity; the stability after irradiation or photocatalytic/electrochemical experiments in the liquid or in the gas phase; insights into various potential applications, spanning from solar water splitting, electrochemical CO2 reduction, gas-phase heterogeneous catalysis, and batteries. Articles, reviews or perspectives are suitable to this purpose.
Keywords:
Solar energy, single atoms, catalysts, photocatalysis, electrochemistry, solar fuels
Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
Motivated by the increasingly severe effects of climate change, recent international agreements have set a carbon neutrality target for 2050. To meet such objectives, solar energy is a main candidate as a renewable and abundant energy source. Apart from direct conversion to electricity by means of photovoltaics, it can be stored in heat or fuels, thus circumventing its intermittent nature. In this regard, recent studies are addressing the limitations of traditional materials for such technologies by employing single atom catalysts (SACs) acting as bridges between homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis. This concept allows not only limiting the amount of precious catalyst materials (i.e., Pt, Ru, Rh), but also boosting the activity of Earth-abundant ones (i.e., Fe, Ni, Co). The use of SACs has already shown great potential in various renewable energy conversion processes and holds great potential for further development.
The goal of this research topic is to increase the understanding of the scientific community on SACs, including morphological/electronic properties of single atoms, the corresponding effects on their performance, the stability under operation, etc. Such issues require detailed studies making use of advanced experimental characterization techniques, such as high-resolution TEM, in-operando XPS or EPR, as well as numerical methods. Moreover, the full potential of SACs needs to be uncovered in various applications involving solar energy harvesting and storage or electrochemical routes, which therefore require further investigations.
The scope of this topic is to collect experimental and/or numerical studies focusing on various aspects of SACs, including: detailed morphological and electronic investigation of the single atom/support interface; discussion of the oxidation states of single atoms and the consequential effect on catalytic activity; the stability after irradiation or photocatalytic/electrochemical experiments in the liquid or in the gas phase; insights into various potential applications, spanning from solar water splitting, electrochemical CO2 reduction, gas-phase heterogeneous catalysis, and batteries. Articles, reviews or perspectives are suitable to this purpose.
Keywords:
Solar energy, single atoms, catalysts, photocatalysis, electrochemistry, solar fuels
Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.