Microenvironment Engineering of Heterogeneous Catalysts for Liquid-Phase Environmental Catalysis

Area of Science:

• Environmental catalysis
• Green chemistry
• Materials science

Background:

• Environmental catalysis is crucial for mitigating water pollution and advancing circular chemistry.
• The reaction microenvironment significantly impacts catalytic performance and efficiency.
• Liquid-phase environmental catalysis requires optimized reaction conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review microenvironment engineering strategies in liquid-phase environmental catalysis.
• To categorize microenvironments and analyze their impact on catalytic efficiency and selectivity.
• To highlight recent advancements in materials and systems for environmental catalysis.

Main Methods:

• Categorization of microenvironments into four scales: atom/molecule-level, nano/microscale-confined structures, interface/surface regulation, and external field effects.
• Analysis of unique characteristics and merits of each microenvironment scale.
• Review of recent advancements in advanced material and system design for environmental catalysis.

Main Results:

• Microenvironment engineering can significantly enhance catalytic efficiency and selectivity.
• Applications in water purification, transformation to value-added products, and green synthesis were discussed.
• Engineering fine-tuned catalytic regimes, improving both thermodynamics and kinetics.

Conclusions:

• Microenvironment engineering is key to developing effective and sustainable catalytic solutions for environmental decontamination.
• Intelligent materials and system design leveraging microenvironment engineering show great potential.
• Future directions and challenges in this field were discussed.