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Catalysts
Special Issues
Advanced Nanocatalysts for Energy Conversion and Sustainable Chemistry
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Advanced Nanocatalysts for Energy Conversion and Sustainable Chemistry

A special issue of Catalysts (ISSN 2073-4344). This special issue belongs to the section "Nanostructured Catalysts".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 562

Editors

Dr. Mir Waqas Alam

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Physics, College of Science, King Faisal University, Ahsaa 31982, Saudi Arabia
Interests: nanomaterials; electrocatalysis; potocatalysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Manesh A. Yewale

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Mechanical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan 38541, Republic of Korea
Interests: energy storage; supercapacitor; gas sensing; HER; OER; battery
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Kossar Shahnaz

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Physics GNA University Phaghwara, Punjab 144401, India
Interests: photocatalysis; photodetector; electrochemical memory storage devices and semiconductor based ReRAM devices

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Achieving clean and sustainable energy is one of the most important challenges of the present time. Against this backdrop, advanced nanomaterials and nanocatalysts have shown very promising performance for energy conversion and catalytic applications. Because of their small size, large surface area, and unique physical and chemical properties, nanomaterials can provide better catalytic activity, faster reactions, and higher efficiency compared to bulk materials.

This Special Issue focuses on the recent progress in the development and application of nanomaterials for energy and catalytic systems. Special attention will be given to studies investigating electrocatalysis, photocatalysis, and photoelectrocatalysis for hydrogen production, water splitting, and other important reactions such as HER, OER, and CO2 reduction. Studies related to fuel cells, environmental cleanup, and sustainable chemical production using nanocatalysts are also welcome.

We also encourage submissions covering different nanomaterials such as metal oxides, graphene, MXenes, quantum dots, perovskites, and nanocomposites, and both experimental and theoretical studies are welcome, especially those explaining catalytic mechanisms and improving performance and long-term stability.

This Special Issue will provide a good platform to share recent research and new ideas on nanomaterials for energy and catalytic applications, especially for hydrogen energy and a sustainable future.

We look forward to your valuable contributions.

Dr. Mir Waqas Alam
Dr. Manesh A. Yewale
Dr. Kossar Shahnaz
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Catalysts is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • nanomaterials
  • nanocatalysts
  • hydrogen production
  • electrocatalysis
  • photocatalysis
  • energy conversion
  • water splitting
  • fuel cells
  • sustainable energy
  • catalytic applications

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

19 pages, 12165 KB  
Article
Unlocking the Structure–Property Relationships in Ceria-Modified Ni-Al Catalysts in Partial Oxidation of Methane
by Ghzzai Almutairi, Saba M. Alwan, Mathkar Alharthi, Hamid Ahmed, Omalsad H. Odhah, Yaqoub Abdu Hakami, Mohammed Alsaleh, Fahad Ibrahim Alghuraybi, Ahmed S. Al-Fatesh and Wasim Ullah Khan
Catalysts 2026, 16(8), 676; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal16080676 - 26 Jul 2026
Viewed by 270
Abstract
Partial oxidation of methane (POM) is a thermodynamically favorable process for hydrogen and syngas production. Cerium oxide (CeO2) was investigated as a textural promoter for nickel (Ni)-based catalysts in POM. In this study, CeO2 was incorporated into Ni/Al2O [...] Read more.
Partial oxidation of methane (POM) is a thermodynamically favorable process for hydrogen and syngas production. Cerium oxide (CeO2) was investigated as a textural promoter for nickel (Ni)-based catalysts in POM. In this study, CeO2 was incorporated into Ni/Al2O3 catalysts with varying cerium loadings (1–3 wt.%) to examine its role as a structural and functional promoter. Comprehensive physicochemical characterization using BET, XRD, H2-TPR, and TEM analyses indicated that incorporation of ceria influenced the textural and structural properties, leading to reduced Ni crystallite size from 10 nm to 2.9–3.3 nm, and modified metal-support interactions. The 2 wt.% CeO2-modified Ni/Al2O3 (Ni/2Ce-Al) catalyst demonstrated superior catalytic performance, achieving 70% methane (CH4) conversion and 64% hydrogen (H2) yield at 650 °C with stable performance over 275 min time-on-stream with minimal deactivation. Temperature-programmed reduction studies revealed a non-monotonic trend in reduction behavior with an optimal 2 wt.% cerium loading exhibiting the lowest reduction temperature (865 °C). The H2/CO ratio of 2.92 indicates favorable syngas composition under the conditions studied. Raman spectroscopy showed a decrease in the D/G intensity ratio from 1.55 to 1.33 with increasing cerium loading, indicating enhanced structural ordering and improved coke resistance. The improved catalytic performance may be associated with redox properties of ceria (Ce3+/Ce4+ cycling), its enhanced oxygen storage capacity, and modified Ni-support interactions which can contribute to improved resistance to carbon deposition and Ni sintering. Response surface methodology (RSM) was also successfully used to model the interaction of temperature, space velocity and feed ratio and to confirm the significant positive effect of temperature on conversion. The long-term performance of the optimized catalyst, over a 20 h period, demonstrated the excellent durability of the catalyst, resulting in a stable H2 yield of ca. 87% and CH4 conversion of ca. 90%. This work demonstrates that optimized cerium promotion on alumina-supported Ni catalysts can improve catalytic activity and stability, providing a potentially cost-effective, thermally stable catalyst system for industrial hydrogen and syngas production from (CH4). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Nanocatalysts for Energy Conversion and Sustainable Chemistry)
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