Single-Atom Catalysts: Current Trends, Challenges, and Prospects
A special issue of Catalysts (ISSN 2073-4344). This special issue belongs to the section "Catalytic Materials".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2025 | Viewed by 411
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Currently, a key focus in energy, materials, and biological applications is the identification of efficient catalysts that offer high activity, selectivity, and stability. Single-atom catalysts (SACs) have garnered significant attention in these areas due to their unique characteristics, such as atomically dispersed active sites, which optimize the utilization of metal atoms while reducing costs. In energy applications, SACs are employed in hydrogen production, CO2 reduction, and fuel cell reactions. In materials science, they play a crucial role in enhancing the mechanical and electronic properties of functional materials, such as in the development of advanced polymers and nanocomposites. In the biological domain, SACs are emerging as highly effective catalysts for enzyme-like reactions, drug synthesis, and biosensing. Their exceptional reactivity is largely driven by the coordination environment of the single atoms, strong metal–support interactions, and tunable electronic structures. Despite their potential, challenges remain, such as maintaining stability against aggregation and preserving activity under real-world conditions. One promising approach to addressing these issues is the engineering of advanced supports and the design of optimized coordination environments to stabilize the single atoms.
This Special Issue will showcase the latest advancements in SACs across energy, materials, and biological applications. We invite original research papers and short reviews on these topics for submission.
Dr. Ruonan Guo
Guest Editor
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
- single-atom catalyst
- atomically dispersed catalyst
- heterogeneous catalysis
- energy conversion
- thermal catalysis
- electrocatalysis
- photocatalysis
- metal–support interactions
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
