Dear Colleagues,

According to the recent IUPAC recommendations, rare earth elements refer to a family of 17 chemical elements encompassing the 15 lanthanoids (i.e., from lanthanum to lutetium) along with scandium and yttrium. Over the past few decades, especially from the establishment and development of the three-way catalyst (TWC) technology, rare earth oxides have become ubiquitous materials in heterogeneous catalysis. In this application field, they are extensively used either as catalysts or, much more frequently, as supports of a variety of metal-containing catalytic active phases and as structural and electronic promoters. Such an extensive use chiefly arises from the unique and excellent solid-state properties of rare earth oxides, which can be easily tailored to the specific requirements of catalytic processes. Among these features, the surface basic character, significantly decreasing from lanthana (La₂O₃) to lutetia (Lu₂O₃), and redox properties, associated with some reversible redox couples (mainly Ce⁴⁺/Ce³⁺, but also Pr⁴⁺/Pr³⁺ and Tb⁴⁺/Tb³⁺), have been traditionally considered as the most relevant with regard to the catalytic applications of these materials. Nevertheless, the increasingly growing technological applications of rare earth oxides, together with the relative scarcity and limited geographical distribution of their economically viable ores, have led to a steady rise in prices during the last decade. Therefore, making a more efficient use of these oxides by reducing and optimizing their contents in catalysts formulations has currently become not only a mandatory practice but also a great challenge for the catalysis science community. This situation is pushing forward the development of new research lines aimed at designing novel rare earth oxide-based catalysts with improved activity and stability as well as lower economic cost. The present Special Issue of Catalysts is intended to provide a broad overview of recent progress and research trends in the field of rare earth oxide-based catalysts, covering from their design, preparation, and characterization to their testing in catalytic processes with environmental, energy or industrial interest. Furthermore, both experimental and theoretical studies aimed at understanding the fundamentals of these materials for heterogeneous catalytic applications are also welcome. We strongly encourage researchers to submit their original works as full papers, communications or reviews.

Dr. Adrian Barroso-Bogeat
Prof. Dr. Ginesa Blanco
Guest Editors

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• Rare earth oxides Lanthanoids Heterogeneous catalysis Photocatalysis
• Catalyst preparation
• Catalyst characterization
• Catalyst testing, deactivation and regeneration
• Environmental catalysis
• Fine chemical synthesis
• Energy