[Abstract]

With an increase in the energy demand and adverse environmental changes, the need is rising for carbon-neutral futures. In this scenario, this seminar accounts for advances in fundamental understanding of surface processes involved in heterogeneous catalytic reactions for environmental remediation and sustainable chemistry. Examples to be discussed include the oxidation of carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, and phenol decomposition.

Through these catalytic processes triggered by heat or light, it will be described that how to efficiently mitigate gaseous and liquid emissions at low temperature in multiple ways, e.g., by nanostructuring or by defect engineering of catalysts. This presentation also introduces the approach of improving catalyst activity for renewable energy production by visible light excitation. For instance, tuning the attributes of visible light, remarkable improvements on yield and conversion efficiency of the hydrogen generation via water splitting are demonstrated.

Further, we uncover new routes to drive the selectivity of CO2 fixation toward energy-dense hydrocarbons by harnessing plasmonic light excitation. These approaches offer an advanced, rich handle for alternative reaction mechanisms.