Cu and Cu-Based Nanoparticles: Applications in Catalysis

Dear Colleagues,

Nanoscience has recently attracted increased attention due to its potential to provide sound solutions to a number of technological and environmental issues in the areas of chemical manufacturing, biological applications, energy conversion and storage, and water treatment.

Metal nanoparticles exhibit improved optical, electronic, magnetic, chemical, and biological properties when compared to their bulk correspondents. Due to their high specific surface areas, such particles are of particular interest for research in catalysts with enhanced activity and selectivity. The design and the development of techniques to synthesize metal nanoparticles with tunable size, shape, composition, crystallinity, and structure are, therefore, gaining growing attention.

Copper is an earth-abundant and inexpensive metal with high electrical and thermal conductivity, high corrosion resistance, good ductility, malleability, and tensile strength. Due to such properties, copper based nanomaterials can effectively replace rare and expensive noble-metal catalysts commonly employed in commercial chemical processes. Copper-based nanocatalysts have a number of applications, including gas-phase reactions, Ulmann reactions, cross-coupling reactions, A3-coupling reactions, azide-alkyne cycloaddition, photocatalysis, and electrocatalysis.

However, synthesis and use of nanosized copper particles are still challenging due to the high tendency for oxidation of copper under atmospheric conditions. As oxides are thermodynamically more stable, surface oxide layers inevitably form on copper nanoparticles and limit their use.

Copper-based nanoparticles with complex structures (i.e., core/shell) and catalysts based on copper oxides have been recently adopted in order to overcome the instability of copper nanoparticles in the presence of oxygen, water, and several chemical species. Alternatively, copper nanoparticles have been fixed on selected supports, such as metal oxides, SiO2, carbon-based materials, or polymers. At present, the main challenge in the design and synthesis of copper-based nanocatalysts is to develop highly stable, active, selective, and low cost materials.

This Special Issue of the journal Applied Sciences “Cu and Cu-Based Nanoparticles: Applications in Catalysis” aims to cover recent advances in the development of copper-based nanosized particles for different catalytic applications.

Dr. Laura Clarizia
Prof. Dr. Raffaele Marotta
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.