Advanced Catalysis for Energy and a Sustainable Environment

A special issue of Catalysts (ISSN 2073-4344).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2025 | Viewed by 676

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia
Interests: energy storage (supercapacitors); renewable energy; biomass to biofuels CO2 capture; wastewater treatment; heterogeneous catalysis; adsorption

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Catalysis has long played an important role in chemical, petrochemicals, and allied industries. However, its role has been escalated to the sustainable energy domain, with minimal environmental impact. This transformation has created opportunities for researchers/academics/scientists globally to design, develop, and test cost-effective catalysts. Catalysis advancements occupy a distinguished position within the realm of scientific solutions aimed at sustainable energy and promoting environmental conservation. Indeed, an efficient catalyst allows reactions under mild conditions (i.e., moderate or lower temperatures and pressures) and reduced energy consumption, operational costs, and greenhouse gas emissions.

Recent years have been characterized by considerable advancements in catalytic materials, including nanostructured, heteroatoms, 1D/2D/3D catalysts, and composite catalysts for enhancing reaction rates, product yield, selectivity, and long-term stability. Some areas for advanced catalysis include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Hydrogen and Clean Fuels: Catalytic, photocatalytic, electrocatalytic, and decarbonization processes, among others;
  • Green Catalysis: Generation of energy or fuels using green catalysts, aqueous-phase catalysis, etc.;
  • Biomass Conversion: Conversion of renewable biomass into biofuels, biochemicals, and other compounds;
  • Minimizing Harmful Emissions: Catalysts to reduce harmful gases or CO2 formation, CO2 conversion into valuable chemicals and fuels, etc.;
  • Wastewater Treatment: Catalysts for wastewater treatment, dye degradation, metal treatment, chemical treatment, pollutant and contaminant removal from water, etc.;
  • Sustainable Catalysis: Biocatalysts, organo-catalysts, and rare earth-based catalysts to minimize toxicity and environmental risks.

Despite remarkable progress, advancements in catalytic technologies still need to be fully explored. Catalysts’ durability and recyclability in multiple processes also require further research. Thus, original research papers and reviews aligned with the above themes are welcome in this Special Issue of Catalysts. 

Dr. Khursheed B. Ansari
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • sustainable energy
  • environmental remediation
  • advanced catalytic materials
  • biomass conversion
  • CO2 conversion
  • wastewater treatment
  • catalyst sustainability (durability/recyclability)

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

23 pages, 3019 KiB  
Review
Phase-Transfer Catalysis for Fuel Desulfurization
by Xun Zhang and Rui Wang
Catalysts 2025, 15(8), 724; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal15080724 - 30 Jul 2025
Viewed by 109
Abstract
This review surveys recent advances and emerging prospects in phase-transfer catalysis (PTC) for fuel desulfurization. In response to increasingly stringent environmental regulations, the removal of sulfur from transportation fuels has become imperative for curbing SOx emissions. Conventional hydrodesulfurization (HDS) operates under severe [...] Read more.
This review surveys recent advances and emerging prospects in phase-transfer catalysis (PTC) for fuel desulfurization. In response to increasingly stringent environmental regulations, the removal of sulfur from transportation fuels has become imperative for curbing SOx emissions. Conventional hydrodesulfurization (HDS) operates under severe temperature–pressure conditions and displays limited efficacy toward sterically hindered thiophenic compounds, motivating the exploration of non-hydrogen routes such as oxidative desulfurization (ODS). Within ODS, PTC offers distinctive benefits by shuttling reactants across immiscible phases, thereby enhancing reaction rates and selectivity. In particular, PTC enables efficient migration of organosulfur substrates from the hydrocarbon matrix into an aqueous phase where they are oxidized and subsequently extracted. The review first summarizes the deployment of classic PTC systems—quaternary ammonium salts, crown ethers, and related agents—in ODS operations and then delineates the underlying phase-transfer mechanisms, encompassing reaction-controlled, thermally triggered, photo-responsive, and pH-sensitive cycles. Attention is next directed to a new generation of catalysts, including quaternary-ammonium polyoxometalates, imidazolium-substituted polyoxometalates, and ionic-liquid-based hybrids. Their tailored architectures, catalytic performance, and mechanistic attributes are analyzed comprehensively. By incorporating multifunctional supports or rational structural modifications, these systems deliver superior desulfurization efficiency, product selectivity, and recyclability. Despite such progress, commercial deployment is hindered by the following outstanding issues: long-term catalyst durability, continuous-flow reactor design, and full life-cycle cost optimization. Future research should, therefore, focus on elucidating structure–performance relationships, translating batch protocols into robust continuous processes, and performing rigorous environmental and techno-economic assessments to accelerate the industrial adoption of PTC-enabled desulfurization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Catalysis for Energy and a Sustainable Environment)
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