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Catalysts
Special Issues
Nanocatalysts for Degradation of Environmental Pollutants and Hydrogen Generation
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Nanocatalysts for Degradation of Environmental Pollutants and Hydrogen Generation

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2025 | Viewed by 703

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Diganta Saikia

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, National Central University, No. 300, Zhongda Rd., Zhongli District, Taoyuan City 320317, Taiwan
Interests: mesoporous carbon materials; metal and metal oxide nanoparticles incorporated mesoporous carbon; MXenes; polymer electrolytes; lithium and sodium ion batteries; electrochromic devices; catalysis
Dr. Juti Rani Deka

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Materials Science and Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei 106344, Taiwan
Interests: mesoporous carbon and silica materials; metal–organic frameworks; metal nanocatalysts; catalysis for environmental pollutant degradation; catalytic hydrogen generation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The recent advancements in the synthesis of metal nanoparticles and their application as heterogeneous catalysts are worth noting due to their unique textural and electronic properties. These nanocatalysts are highly effective, particularly in the degradation of environmental pollutants and hydrogen generation. Metal nanoparticles tend to aggregate easily due to their large surface energy, which leads to a reduction in catalytic activity and selectivity throughout the reaction process. The aggregation of nanoparticles can be prevented by immobilizing them on a suitable support that strongly interacts with the metal species. Supported metal nanoparticles are among the most widely used heterogeneous catalysts, known for their high activity across a range of chemical reactions. Given the extensive utilization of fossil fuels over the past number of decades and the growing environmental concern, there is a pressing need for the development of sustainable and clean energy systems. Hydrogen (H2) is one of the most promising renewable energy sources for future fuel applications due to its high energy density, abundance, and non-toxicity. However, challenges related to the safe storage and efficient transport of H2 limit its practical applications. Therefore, developing secure and effective H2 storage technology is essential. H2 can be rapidly generated through catalytic hydrolysis of H2 storage materials, offering a convenient, economical, and efficient method for H2 energy production. Ammonia borane is a highly preferred H2 storage material due its high H2 content, non-toxicity, high solubility, and remarkable stability. Another key application of metal nanocatalysts is the degradation of environmentally harmful organic pollutants in wastewater into non-toxic small molecules. Water pollution has become a major issue in recent times due to the direct discharge of large volumes of industrial wastewater into water bodies. The degradation of harmful organic pollutants in wastewater is essential before their discharge into aquatic environments.

This Special Issue will focus on recent developments in the synthesis of novel nanostructured materials for hydrogen generation from ammonia borane hydrolysis and the degradation of organic pollutants from wastewater. The Special Issue will focus on the following areas:

  1. The synthesis of metal nanostructures immobilized in different supports, such as mesoporous silicas, carbon nanotubes, carbon fibers, etc.
  2. Applications of supported metal nanocatalysts for H2 generation from the hydrolysis of ammonia borane, sodium borohydride, formic acid, etc.
  3. Studies of the correlation between the structural properties of supported metal nanocatalysts and H2 generation from ammonia borane hydrolysis.
  4. Applications of supported metal nanocatalysts for the degradation and removal of emerging pollutants, such as nitroarenes, dyes, heavy metals, etc., from wastewater.
  5. Studies on the correlation between the structural properties of supported metal nanocatalysts and catalytic activity for the degradation of organic pollutants. 

Dr. Diganta Saikia
Dr. Juti Rani Deka
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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-blind 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

  • nanoparticles
  • supported metal nanocatalyst
  • nitroarene reduction
  • dye degradation
  • heavy metal removal
  • hydrogen storage materials
  • hydrogen generation

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

21 pages, 4523 KiB  
Article
ZIF-67-Derived Co−N−C Supported Ni Nanoparticles as Efficient Recyclable Catalyst for Hydrogenation of 4-Nitrophenol
by Juti Rani Deka, Diganta Saikia, Jia-Cheng Lin, Wan-Yu Chen, Hsien-Ming Kao and Yung-Chin Yang
Catalysts 2025, 15(4), 343; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal15040343 - 1 Apr 2025
Viewed by 485
Abstract
In this study, a novel, highly efficient, environment friendly, and low-cost nanocatalyst, denoted as Ni(x)@Co−N−C, was successfully developed by encapsulating Ni nanoparticles into N-doped porous carbon derived from ZIF-67. A variety of techniques including powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen adsorption/desorption, scanning electron microscopy [...] Read more.
In this study, a novel, highly efficient, environment friendly, and low-cost nanocatalyst, denoted as Ni(x)@Co−N−C, was successfully developed by encapsulating Ni nanoparticles into N-doped porous carbon derived from ZIF-67. A variety of techniques including powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen adsorption/desorption, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS) were used to characterize the prepared materials. The TEM images reveal that the nanoparticles were distributed homogeneously in the carbon support. The N atoms in the carbon support serve as the sites for the nucleation and uniform growth of Ni nanoparticles. The catalyst was used for the degradation of environmentally harmful 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP). Among all the catalysts investigated, Ni(10)@Co-N-C exhibited the highest catalytic activity for the hydrogenation of 4-NP, with a specific reaction rate of 6.1 × 10−3 s−1, activity parameter of 31 s−1g−1, and turn over frequency (TOF) of 1.78 × 1019 molecules gmetal−1s−1. On the other hand, the specific reaction rate and TOF value were 1.7 × 10−3 s−1 and 6.96 × 1018 molecules gmetal−1s−1, respectively, for Co−N−C. This suggests that Ni(10)@Co−N−C is about three times more catalytically active than the Co−N−C catalyst. The superb activity of Ni(10)@Co−N−C in comparison to Co−N−C can be ascribed to the homogeneous dispersion of small-sized Ni nanoparticles, the interconnected three-dimensional porous arrangement of the support Co−N−C, the presence of N atoms in the carbon framework that stabilize metal nanoparticles, and the synergistic electronic effect between Ni and Co. The Ni(10)@Co−N−C catalyst maintained consistent catalytic activity over multiple cycles, which suggests that porous N-containing carbon support can effectively prevent aggregation and leaching of metal nanoparticles. The ICP-AES analysis of the recycled Ni(10)@Co−N−C revealed a slight reduction in metal content compared to the fresh sample, suggesting almost negligible leaching of metal nanoparticles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanocatalysts for Degradation of Environmental Pollutants and Hydrogen Generation)
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