Sustainable Metal Catalysts for Energy, Environment and Generation of High-Value Products, 2nd Edition

A special issue of Catalysts (ISSN 2073-4344). This special issue belongs to the section "Catalysis for Sustainable Energy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 1999

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milano, Italy
Interests: heterogenous catalysis; photocatalysis; interfaces and surfaces; material characterization; environmental protection; industrial chemistry; physical chemistry
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Guest Editor
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Coal Clean Conversion and Low Carbon Utilization, Anhui University of Technology, Ma’anshan 243002, China
Interests: heterogenous catalysis; chemical engineering; material science; air pollution control; catalytic oxidation; volatile organic compounds

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is a continuation of the previous Special Issue, “Recent Advances and Strategies in the Development of Sustainable Metal Catalysts for Energy, Environment and Generation of High-Value Products”, following its great success.

Heterogeneous catalysis is at the core of most industrial processing procedures for the production of energy and/or high-value products. Due to the dramatic increase in the worldwide population and daily activities of society, meeting the worldwide need for energy and related products has become even more challenging. Therefore, enhancing productibility through the design of highly effective yet sustainable catalysts is urgently required. Meta-based catalysts are a significantly attractive option for running a wide range of catalytic processes. To select a catalyst for a given application, several factors should be considered, with the ideal catalyst having a high catalytic performance, low cost, nontoxic nature, and highly physical/chemical stability, wide availability, excellent recyclability, and lower energy consumption and nontoxic gas production during synthesis, with an eco-friendly end-of-life destination.

This Special Issue aims to discuss the recent advances in designing innovative nontoxic sustainable metal-based catalysts for energy production, high-value product generation, and environmental remediation.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Current status and challenges in the green synthesis of cheap and eco-friendly metal-based catalysts;
  • Updates and perspectives on techno-economics and life cycle assessment of metal-based catalysts;
  • Development of low-metal loading catalysts;
  • Design of metal catalysts for the recycling and valorization of waste materials;
  • Upcycling of metal-containing waste materials into catalysts;
  • Application of metal-based catalysts for energy production and environmental remediation;
  • Biomass conversion into highly value products via metal-based catalysts: mechanistic and challenges;

Deactivation mechanisms of metal-based catalysts and approaches to control them.

Dr. Sebastiano Campisi
Dr. Melissa Greta Galloni
Dr. Weidong Zhang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • catalysis
  • metal catalysts
  • photocatalysis
  • electrocatalysis
  • energy production
  • life cycle
  • sustainability
  • environmental remediation

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 12695 KB  
Article
Turning the Structure and HMF Hydrogenation Activity of Ni-PS Catalyst via Calcination Temperature
by Yuanhua He, Nengfeng Gong, Li Dong, Shanshan Liu, Yong Yang, Yulei Zhu, Yafang Li, Jiale Song and Guoqiang Ding
Catalysts 2026, 16(3), 214; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal16030214 - 28 Feb 2026
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Abstract
A series of nickel phyllosilicate catalysts (Ni-PS-T, where T represents the calcination temperature in °C) were synthesized via he ammonia-evaporation method and calcined at different temperatures to investigate their performance in the hydrogenation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). Characterization by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), [...] Read more.
A series of nickel phyllosilicate catalysts (Ni-PS-T, where T represents the calcination temperature in °C) were synthesized via he ammonia-evaporation method and calcined at different temperatures to investigate their performance in the hydrogenation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). Characterization by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that increasing the calcination temperature (300–1100 °C) triggered a phase evolution from the 1:1-type (tetrahedral-octahedral) to the 2:1-type (tetrahedral-octahedral-tetrahedral) Ni-PS, eventually leading to phase separation into NiO and SiO2. The content of the 2:1-type crystalline phase, H2 adsorption capacity, and C=O hydrogenation activity of HMF all exhibited a volcano-shaped trend with calcination temperature. Under the conditions of 100 °C and 2.5 MPa H2, Ni-PS-800 enabled HMF hydrogenation with a conversion of 90% and a selectivity of 84% to 2,5-dihydroxymethylfuran (DHMF), in which the catalyst exhibited good stability during five consecutive HMF hydrogenation cycles. The enhanced catalytic performance of Ni-PS-800 is attributed to its high 2:1-type phase fraction, which promotes a pronounced hydrogen-spillover effect and significantly enhances the intrinsic activity for C=O hydrogenation. Full article
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26 pages, 4721 KB  
Article
Surface-Controlled Photo-Fenton Activity of Cu-Fe Bimetallic Catalysts: Dual Function of Iron on Silica and Alumina Supports
by Nimisha Kuruvangattu Puthenveettil, Goran Dražić, Albin Pintar and Nataša Novak Tušar
Catalysts 2026, 16(1), 34; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal16010034 - 1 Jan 2026
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1036
Abstract
Photo-Fenton advanced oxidation processes are promising and sustainable approaches for water treatment, particularly under visible-light irradiation. In this study, Cu-Fe bimetallic catalysts supported on silica and γ-alumina were developed for visible-light-driven photo-Fenton reactions, with emphasis on the influence of metal ratios and support-metal [...] Read more.
Photo-Fenton advanced oxidation processes are promising and sustainable approaches for water treatment, particularly under visible-light irradiation. In this study, Cu-Fe bimetallic catalysts supported on silica and γ-alumina were developed for visible-light-driven photo-Fenton reactions, with emphasis on the influence of metal ratios and support-metal interactions on charge–carrier dynamics and hydroxyl radical formation. Comprehensive characterization (XRD, TEM, UV-Vis DRS, PL, TCSPC, and EPR) revealed stronger metal–support interactions and higher metal dispersion on γ-alumina, while silica-supported catalysts showed CuO aggregation at higher Cu loadings. Catalytic performance was evaluated using coumarin oxidation as both a model reaction and a quantitative probe for OH radical generation. Alumina-supported catalysts exhibited superior activity, and OH production increased with increasing Cu content on both supports. Importantly, iron was found to play a dual role: low Fe loading enhances photo-Fenton activity, whereas higher Fe content promotes charge–carrier recombination, leading to reduced activity under visible-light irradiation. These results highlight how the interplay between Fe/Cu ratio and support material governs charge dynamics and provides clear guidelines for the rational design of efficient heterogeneous photo-Fenton catalysts. Full article
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