Dear Colleagues, 

Catalysis is one of the key and core technologies in chemical industry, which plays a crucial role in various fields including petroleum refining, energy conversion, environmental protection and fine chemical. According to statistics, more than 90% of today's chemical processes involve the catalytic science and technology. The development and great progress of catalytic technology largely depends on the design of new catalytic materials. Therefore, the research and development of new catalytic materials has always been one of the core contents of chemical technology innovation, and also one of the most challenging topics in the field of catalytic science and technology.

Generally, for making chemical production more energy-efficient and selective to target products in catalysis, there are some strategies to control of the bond formation in reactions. The influences of the molecular structure (steric and/or electronic effects by the substituents) and the chemical/physical structure (nature of the metal atoms, local structure and texture of the support, and electronic and geometric effects of a second metal or of surface ligands) of the catalysts have been addressed. Among these catalytic materials, intermetallic compounds with controllable electronic structures and specifically ordered atomic-level structures are promising, which are capable of creating favourable reaction environments and suitable for developing efficient catalytic systems. Recently, intermetallic compounds in catalysis as a hot topic has received growing attention, especially in selective hydrogenation, oxidation, and electrochemical energy conversion. The synthetic principles and strategies developed to obtain intermetallic compounds catalysts as well as their surface chemical analysis have aroused extensive research interest. Additionally, the structure–properties relationship of intermetallic compounds is still a mystifying barrier, which is full of challenges and has received intensive study in catalysis.

Accordingly, researches on intermetallic compounds in catalysis are welcome in this Special Issue of Molecules, which will contribute to the rapid development of new catalytic materials. This Special Issue will collect communications, articles, and reviews which are at the leading edge of our field’s emerging technology and science.

Dr. Xiao Chen
Dr. Guanghui Zhang
Guest Editors

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• heterogeneous catalysis
• intermetallic compound
• catalyst design
• geometric and electronic effects