The Stability of the Nanomaterial Catalysts

Dear Colleagues,

The catalytic behavior of a nanomaterial—polyvinyl alcohol-covered palladium and platinum nanoparticles for use as hydrogenation catalysts—was first examined as early as 1941. Since then, nanomaterials have received persistent and prolific attention from the catalyst community because of their outstanding physicochemical properties, and their catalytic features have been studied intensively. The main advantage of using a nanomaterial as a catalyst is the fine-tuning of physical properties (e.g., valence band, conduction band, work function, photoluminescence) and chemical properties (e.g., oxidation state, absorption site, proton transfer). Moreover, nanomaterial morphology can easily be modulated to increase the active area, and/or several different types of nanomaterials can be hybridized to facilitate efficient reactant–catalyst interaction.

However, there are growing concerns on the stability of these materials. Unlike bulk materials, nanomaterials possess a large number of defects, especially at the surface, and these become degradation foci during the desired reaction. During the reaction, nanomaterial catalysts can undergo photodegradation, chemical degradation, redox-assisted degradation, thermal degradation, and charge-assisted degradation (e.g., in fuel cells, batteries, and solar cells). For the commercialization of the nanomaterial catalyst, the stability issue should be resolved. Thus, it is necessary to study the degradation mechanism of nanomaterials during catalytic reactions and to design novel protection strategies for these materials.

This Special Issue will cover recent progress in the stability of nanomaterials. Various strategies to improve the stability of nanomaterials and/or in-depth investigation of the degradation mechanisms of nanomaterials will be presented. Original papers on the above topics and short reviews are welcome for submission.

Dr. Hanleem Lee
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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• Nanomaterial catalysis
• Nano-structured heterogeneous catalyst
• Physicochemical characterizations method
• Photo-degradation
• Chemical stability
• Operational stability
• Electrochemical stability
• Passivation
• Degradation mechanism
• Improving turnover