Topic: Design and Energy Conversion Applications of Photoelectro- and Electrocatalytic Synergistic Materials

Achieving carbon neutrality requires catalytic platforms that efficiently couple solar energy and renewable electricity to produce fuels and value-added chemicals. Although photocatalysis and electrocatalysis have advanced rapidly, stand-alone systems still face key limitations, including inefficient energy utilization, charge recombination, insufficient selectivity, and poor operational stability. Photo-electro synergistic catalysis provides a powerful strategy to address these challenges by integrating photonic and electrical inputs to regulate light harvesting, charge separation, interfacial charge transfer, surface reaction kinetics, and local microenvironments.

This Special Issue, “Design and Energy Conversion Applications of Photoelectro- and Electrocatalytic Synergistic Materials,” welcomes original research articles, reviews, perspectives, and forward-looking contributions on light-assisted electrocatalysis, bias-assisted photocatalysis, photoelectrocatalysis, semiconductor–electrocatalyst coupling, photoelectrode engineering, heterojunctions, built-in electric fields, photovoltaic–electrolysis integration, and photoelectrochemical devices. Topics of interest include hydrogen production, CO₂ reduction, ammonia synthesis, oxygen electrocatalysis, fuel-cell reactions, and biomass upgrading for energy. Studies employing in situ/operando characterization, transient spectroscopy, isotope labeling, theoretical calculations, microkinetic analysis, or machine learning are particularly encouraged.

Photo-electro synergistic catalysis, light-assisted electrocatalysis, interfacial charge transfer, CO₂ reduction, photo-electro synergistic catalysis, catalytic material design, solar-to-chemical conversion, water splitting, fuel cells