Catalysis drives the majority of industrial chemical processes and is an essential element for the current fossil fuel based economy. Continual improvement and innovation in catalysis plays a key role in the development of more efficient and effective fuel processing technologies. To achieve this goal, novel catalysts need to be designed for chemical conversions running at much higher yields and with better selectivity, which can improve the economics and
sustainability of these processes by reducing the consumption of raw materials,
energy, and emissions to the environment. This book is based on contributions to the symposium "Novel Materials for Catalysis and Fuels Processing " that took place at the 243rd ACS National Meeting in San Diego, California on March, 2012. Many topics concerning the growing area of materials for catalysis and fuel processing were presented in this symposium, and they constitute the main content of this book, including theoretical and experimental advances in the areas of catalyst synthesis,
characterization, and kinetics for renewable feedstocks conversion, alternative fuel production, emission control, selective reductive and oxidative processes, and carbon sequestration and transformation.
This book contains 14 peer-reviewed chapters. These chapters have been organized in five sections: (I) general overview (Chapter 1), (II) computer-aided design (Chapters 2 and 3), (III) spectroscopic characterization (Chapter 4), (IV) kinetics-aided design (Chapter 5), and (V) applications of novel catalysts (Chapters 6 to 14). It will appeal to both basic and applied researchers in academia andindustry who would like a comprehensive overview of the most recent studies targeting the development
of the next generation of catalysts. The selection of topics presented here touches upon current progress and development of novel materials and catalysts for fuels and chemicals processing.