Preface

This Special Issue of Catalysis Today includes selected papers presented at the 5th European Conference on Solar Chemistry & Photocatalysis: Environmental Applications (SPEA 5). The conference, held from 4th to 8th October 2008, was organized by Leonardo Palmisano and Vincenzo Augugliaro in Palermo (Italy). The 252 delegates (representing 757 authors) who came from many different European and non-European countries delivered four plenary lectures and 49 oral presentations. To emphasise the poster presentation, the 184 posters were briefly introduced by the appropriate Session Chairman before each oral sessions began. Both oral and poster presentations were divided into the following five topics: Topic 1: Catalysts and processes for solar light utilization; Topic 2: Photodegradation in gas and liquid systems: catalysts, reaction mechanisms and processes; Topic 3: Photocatalysts developments: preparation, doping and characterization; Topic 4: Novel photocatalytic processes and process assessment; Topic 5: Photocatalysis: from fundamentals to applications.