Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Academia and industry interests are in search of alternative energy sources that might more efficiently contribute to the mitigation of global warming caused by the increase in greenhouse gases generated by the use of fossil fuels as a predominant energy source. Among the main gases involved in the greenhouse effect, carbon dioxide contributes most to the total greenhouse gases. The valorization of carbon dioxide coming from a plethora of industrial processes has great environmental and industrial impacts, not only for the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, but also for the production of chemicals and fuels, as well as the deployment of green industrial processes. Chemical reactions have been exploited for the conversion of carbon dioxide to a wide range of high-added-value products following different approaches; for example, catalysis, electrocatalysis, photocatalysis, and photoelectrocatalysis. In this Special Issue of C—Journal of Carbon Research, we invite authors to submit original communications, full papers, and reviews on consolidate and novel insights and applications of carbon materials for the valorization of carbon dioxide to chemicals and fuels.

Prof. Dr. Jesus Iniesta Valcarcel
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

Carbon catalysts
Carbon electrocatalysis
Carbon supported materials in catalyst and electrocatalysts
Metal-free electrocatalysis
Carbon Photoelectrocatalysis
Carbon photocatalysis

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 1273 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Rational Investigation of the Lewis Acid-Promoted Coupling of Carbon Dioxide with Cyclohexene Oxide: Towards CO₂-Sourced Polycyclohexene Carbonate under Solvent- and Cocatalyst-Free Conditions

by Joseph Grondin, Christian Aupetit and Thierry Tassaing

C 2019, 5(3), 39; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/c5030039 - 16 Jul 2019

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3197

Abstract

We report a rational investigation of the selective synthesis of poly(cyclohexene carbonate) from CO₂ and cyclohexene oxide by using commercially available Lewis acids with nontoxic metal centers. After a preliminary screening, we focused on the use of zinc salts, and the effect of the pressure, the temperature, the catalyst loading, and the presence of cocatalyst or a solvent on the reaction yields, selectivity, and molar masses was evaluated for selected catalytic platforms. Thus, we found that ZnTosylate in catalytic amounts under solvent- and cocatalyst-free conditions enables the selective synthesis of poly(cyclohexene carbonate) with a molecular weight of about 62.1 kg/mol with about 70% yields at 343 K and 4 MPa. To the best of our knowledge, this is a rare example of high molar mass polycyclohexene carbonates that are moreover obtained under solvent- and cocatalyst-free conditions. The high selectivity of ZnTos towards the formation of poly(cyclohexene carbonate) was interpreted, thanks to in situ FTIR spectroscopy and DFT calculations, as resulting from its ability to coactivate CO₂. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue From CO2 to High-Added-Value Products through Carbon-Based Materials)

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Review

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26 pages, 3202 KiB

Open AccessReview

Carbon Materials as Cathode Constituents for Electrochemical CO₂ Reduction—A Review

by Sofia Messias, Manuel Nunes da Ponte and Ana S. Reis-Machado

C 2019, 5(4), 83; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/c5040083 - 11 Dec 2019

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3935

Abstract

This work reviews the latest developments of cathodes for electrochemical CO₂ reduction, with carbon black, mesoporous carbons, carbon nanofibers, graphene, its derivatives and/or carbon nanotubes as constituents. Electrochemical CO₂ reduction into fuels and chemicals powered by renewable energy is a technology that can contribute to climate change mitigation. Strategies used in this fast-evolving field are discussed, having in mind a commercial application. Electrochemical performance of several materials is analyzed, using in some cases the findings of theoretical computational studies, which show the enormous potential of these materials. Considerable challenges still lie ahead to bring this technology into industrial deployment. However, the significant progress achieved so far shows that further R&D efforts might pay off. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue From CO2 to High-Added-Value Products through Carbon-Based Materials)

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