This special issue of Topics in Catalysis gathers the proceedings of the 12th International Congress on Catalysis and Automotive Pollution Control (CAPoC12) held at the Université Libre de Bruxelles from August 29th to 31st 2022. Since the first edition in 1986, automotive pollution control by catalysis has rapidly developed to become one of the most active and popular areas of applied research in heterogeneous catalysis. Whereas the electrification of light-duty vehicles is on track, many questions remain regarding the effective replacement of internal combustion engines by electric ones. Considering the scarcity of raw materials and massive infrastructure investments, many experts advance that this progressive change will take several decades. E-fuels also provide a short-term alternative to de-fossilize the CO2 produced by internal combustion engines. At this turn of the tide, the abatement of automotive pollutants remains of topmost importance for current and future generations of scientists and engineers in both academia and industry. This was demonstrated given the 131 participants from 20 countries during CAPoC12. The well-balanced attendance of academia and industry was vital for many fruitful discussions about issues of fundamental and applied character. It is the organizers’ firm conviction that the synergistic interaction of its attending protagonists was key to the success of CAPoC meetings and, more generally, to the improvement of catalysis-based technology for emission control.

As its eleven predecessors, CAPoC12 has proven to be an efficient platform for discussing recent scientific and technological advances in different topics related to applications and requirements of catalysis in duty automotive emission control, especially the following topics:

  • Catalyst and sorption technologies.

  • Particulate emission control for both diesel and gasoline engines.

  • After treatment for gaseous HC, H2 and renewable or reformulated fuel mixtures.

  • Emission control for natural-gas, dual-fuel engines and hybrid vehicles.

  • Off-cycles emissions and unregulated pollutants.

  • Materials for catalysts, washcoat and fuel-borne catalysts.

  • Modelling of after treatment systems and catalyst characterization.

  • Integrated emission control systems, on-board diagnostics.

  • Sustainable fuel technologies and e-fuels chemistry.

  • Innovative technologies (new materials, recovery of precious metals).

The curtains were raised on this congress by the esteemed presence of Prof. Marius Gilbert, Vice-Rector for Research and Valorization and Minister Zakia Khtattabi, Federal Minister of the Climate, the Environment, Sustainable Development and Green Deal in Belgium. The event was opened by addressing key facts on raw materials scarcity, the price of rare elements, the anticipation of new vulnerabilities, the circularity and the need for collaborative initiatives aimed at curbing the adverse impacts of automotive emissions.

The congress started with illuminating introductory lectures. The first was delivered by Peter Kelly Senecal (Convergent Science) who presented the key figures on CO2 net emissions and regulations in the USA, put in perspective with the type of vehicles. Roland Dauphin (Concawe) presented an online tool to quantify the net greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions based on a sophisticated life cycle analysis. One outcome of this presentation was that small hybrid cars and electric vehicles produce similar CO2 amounts in our regions. Panagiota Dilara (European Commission, DG GROW) delivered a lecture on the new EURO-7 standards to be proposed by the European Commission. Dr. Dilara announced that the future and possibly the last standards will allow manufacturers to comply with, avoiding excessive investments. The fourth introductory lecture was delivered by Olaf Toedter (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) on the “ReFuels”. His message was that GHG emissions won’t be abated by a silver bullet. Short-term actions are urgently needed. E-fuels can contribute to the efforts toward zero GHG emissions with the existing aftertreatment technologies.

The present issue contains 33 papers covering all subject topics of the congress, without differentiation between oral and poster contributions.

We, the guest editors, are indebted to the members of the organizing committee and the advisory board. Their expertise was of invaluable help in providing the right format for this conference, in selecting the most relevant topics, and screening the submitted contributions. The guest editors also express their sincere thanks to the more than 70 peer reviewers whose expertise and rigor guaranteed that these proceedings come up to the highest scientific expectations.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the sponsors (in alphabetical order): Association for Emissions Control by Catalyst (AECC), Hiden Analytical, NGK Europe, Solvay, Springer Nature, Stellantis and Umicore.

Special thanks are due to all co-workers, members, former members and friends of the group of Chemistry of Surfaces, Interfaces and Nanomaterials of the Université Libre de Bruxelles for helping run the CAPoC12 meeting efficiently and successfully. A special acknowledgment goes to Mr. Olivier Croquet, congress manager, webmaster and treasurer, who also handled so many of the visible and invisible facets of the organization of the conference.

Brussels, June 26th, 2023.