Opportunities and Challenges in the Synthesis, Characterization, and Catalytic Properties of Controlled Nanostructures

Catalysis is a pillar of green chemistry and a crucial technology in achieving sustainability and reducing environmental concerns while still maintaining a high standard of living. Better catalytic materials, showing improved activity, selectivity, and stability, are at the core of future sustainable processes at the nexus of food, water, and energy. Fundamental understanding of catalyst operation is key for the preparation of improved heterogeneous systems for several catalytic applications. In order to develop fundamental knowledge about catalytic processes that would allow us to better design and tune catalytic materials, well-defined catalytic structures are important. Materials with well-defined morphologies can indeed facilitate and accelerate the discovery and description of active sites, which is the first, crucial step in better understanding catalytic systems. Once the active sites are known, it is then possible to build materials where the density of active sites is maximized, leading to improved systems with appropriate morphologies for best catalytic results. In this chapter, we will provide the fundamental basis and rationale for the development of controlled nanostructures in heterogeneous catalysis. We will briefly summarize synthetic procedures to achieve high control over catalytic nanostructures and illustrate important cases where this control resulted crucial for the final catalytic application. This material will lead us to a discussion of the opportunities and challenges in the field, with a positive look into the future of the catalysis field where controlled nanomaterials will play an increasingly important role.