Light-driven Catalysis for Sustainable Chemical and Energy Conversion: From Light Harvesting to Chemical Value

This collection explores how light can be engineered as a sustainable energy input to drive selective chemical transformations, particularly the conversion and valorization of renewable and waste resources into hydrogen, solar fuels, and value-added chemicals. Bridging molecular-level photochemical mechanisms with scalable chemical reaction engineering, this Research Topic highlights catalytic technologies that couple efficient photon utilization with circular chemical manufacturing.The scope of this collection is structured around four interconnected pillars: 1. Renewable feedstock valorization2. Advanced photocatalysts and photon management3. Mechanisms and operando diagnostics of light-driven chemical conversion4. Photoreactor engineering, scale-up, and process sustainability.The Research Topic welcomes Original Research, Review, Mini Review, Perspective, and other suitable article types addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:• Photocatalytic biomass and lignocellulose valorization into platform chemicals• Photoreforming of biomass-derived and waste-derived feedstocks• Photocatalytic hydrogen production coupled with selective organic oxidation• Solar fuels synthesis and light-driven conversion of renewable and waste carbon resources• Selective photocatalytic organic transformations and green synthetic routes• Semiconductor heterojunctions and advanced photocatalyst architectures• Defect, interface, and surface engineering of photocatalysts• Plasmonic and plasmon-enhanced photocatalytic systems• Molecular–semiconductor and photosensitized catalytic systems• Single-atom and atomically dispersed photocatalysts for selective conversions• Mechanistic studies of photogenerated charge carriers, transfer dynamics, and catalytic pathways• Operando and in situ characterization of light-driven catalytic processes• Photocatalytic reactor design, spatial photon management, and light-harvesting efficiency• Continuous-flow and scalable photocatalytic processes, including microfluidic photoreactors• Mass transfer, mixing, and process intensification in photocatalytic systems• Catalyst stability, deactivation mechanisms, regeneration, and recyclability• Techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life-cycle assessment (LCA) of light-driven catalytic technologiesStudies focused exclusively on conventional, non-selective pollutant degradation (such as standard dye photodegradation) or basic photoelectrochemical materials characterization lacking a clear connection to light-driven chemical conversion, resource valorization, or scalable chemical production are outside the primary focus of this Research Topic. Topic editors: Lan Lan, Lu Ren, MESHAL ALJOHANI Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/86444/light-driven-catalysis-for-sustainable-chemical-and-energy-conversion-from-light-harvesting-to-chemical-value