Photocatalytic and Electrocatalytic Materials for Environmental Remediation

Photocatalysis and electrocatalysis have attracted considerable attention for their potential to harness renewable energy sources for the degradation of environmental pollutants. Recent progress in material engineering, particularly in the development of nanostructured materials, doped semiconductors, and hybrid systems, has significantly improved the efficiency, selectivity, and reusability of catalytic systems.

Green synthesis methods and data-driven material optimization approaches are increasingly being integrated to design materials with tailored electronic structures, surface properties, and catalytic sites. Understanding interfacial charge dynamics and degradation pathways is also crucial to optimizing these systems for practical deployment.

This Research Topic will serve as a platform to explore fundamental advances and technological applications of photocatalytic and electrocatalytic materials, targeting their role in sustainable environmental remediation.

Environmental pollution, particularly from persistent organic pollutants and industrial effluents, continues to pose serious threats to ecosystems and human health. To address these challenges, the development of advanced photocatalytic and electrocatalytic materials has emerged as a promising strategy for efficient and sustainable pollutant degradation. This Research Topic aims to gather cutting-edge studies focused on the rational design, synthesis, and application of catalytic materials capable of driving redox processes under solar or electrical stimuli for environmental remediation purposes.

The objective is to highlight how innovative material systems, such as semiconductors, heterojunctions, and nanostructured composites, can enhance catalytic performance in degrading dyes, pharmaceuticals, heavy metals, and emerging contaminants. Special emphasis will be placed on understanding the structure–activity relationships, charge transfer mechanisms, and long-term stability of these systems under realistic operational conditions.

This Research Topic welcomes original research articles and reviews focused on photocatalytic and electrocatalytic materials for pollutant degradation and environmental cleanup.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Novel semiconductor-based photocatalysts and electrocatalysts
• Visible-light active and solar-driven catalysts
• Z-scheme and heterojunction structures
• Metal-free and carbon-based catalytic materials
• Electrocatalytic oxidation/reduction of organic and inorganic pollutants
• Coupling of photocatalysis with electrocatalysis (photoelectrocatalysis)
• Mechanistic insights into charge separation and degradation pathways
• Long-term stability, reusability, and scalability of catalytic systems
• Green and sustainable synthesis of catalytic materials
• Machine learning and computational modeling in catalyst design

Manuscripts should provide detailed discussions on catalyst performance, material-property relationships, environmental impact, and potential for real-world application.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Environmental remediation, Energy storage, Photocatalysis, Electrocatalysis, Nanostructured materials, Green synthesis strategies, Heterojunctions, Charge transfer mechanisms, Advanced oxidation processes, Semiconductor catalysts, Photoelectrocatalysis

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.