Advanced Electrocatalytic Materials for Sustainable Energy Conversion and Storage

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 April 2026) | Viewed by 1006

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing, College of Chemical Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China
Interests: new carbon nanomaterials; green catalysis; energy catalysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue focuses on groundbreaking developments in electrocatalytic materials for renewable energy technologies, including hydrogen production, CO2 conversion, fuel cells, and next-generation batteries. We invite contributions on novel catalyst design (nanostructured materials, single-atom catalysts, and hybrid systems), mechanistic studies, and advanced characterization techniques (in-situ/operando spectroscopy and computational modeling) to enhance activity, selectivity, and stability. A special emphasis is placed on scalable synthesis methods and the integration of these materials with renewable energy infrastructure for practical implementation. By bridging fundamental research with industrial applications, this issue aims to address critical challenges in energy conversion and storage, fostering the transition to sustainable energy solutions. We welcome original research, reviews, and perspectives that highlight recent advances and future directions in electrocatalysis, ultimately contributing to a carbon-neutral future.

Dr. Qingshan Zhao
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 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-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

  • electrocatalysis
  • sustainable energy
  • hydrogen evolution
  • HER
  • CO2 reduction
  • energy storage
  • batteries
  • nanomaterials
  • renewable integration

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.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

14 pages, 3186 KB  
Article
Synergistic Induction by Deep Eutectic Solvent and Carbon Dots for Rapid Construction of FeOOH Electrocatalysts Toward Efficient Oxygen Evolution Reaction
by Weijuan Xu, Hui Wang, Xuan Han, Shuzheng Qu, Yue Yan, Bingxian Zhu, Haipeng Zhang and Qingshan Zhao
Catalysts 2026, 16(1), 73; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal16010073 - 8 Jan 2026
Viewed by 717
Abstract
The development of efficient and stable oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts based on non-precious metals is pivotal for advancing sustainable energy conversion technologies. We present a facile and green strategy for synthesizing a high-performance HO-CDs-FeOOH/NF(D) composite catalyst by leveraging a synergistic system of [...] Read more.
The development of efficient and stable oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts based on non-precious metals is pivotal for advancing sustainable energy conversion technologies. We present a facile and green strategy for synthesizing a high-performance HO-CDs-FeOOH/NF(D) composite catalyst by leveraging a synergistic system of FeCl3/urea deep eutectic solvent (DES) and hydroxyl-functionalized carbon dots (HO-CDs). This system orchestrates the rapid, in situ growth of FeOOH on nickel foam (NF) via simple immersion, wherein the DES acts as both an etchant and an iron source, while the HO-CDs induce a morphological transformation from sheet-like to granular stacking, thereby constructing highly active interfaces and increasing the density of accessible catalytic sites. The optimized catalyst exhibits exceptional OER performance, requiring an overpotential of only 251 mV to achieve 50 mA cm−2, with a Tafel slope of 55.4 mV dec−1. Moreover, it demonstrates outstanding stability, maintaining 98% of its initial current density after 24 h of continuous operation and showing negligible performance decay after 3000 cycles. This work presents a straightforward approach for designing high-performance Fe-based electrocatalysts through carbon dot-mediated morphology control via a facile DES-based impregnation strategy. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop