Sustainable Heterogeneous Catalyst: From Structure to Application

A special issue of Crystals (ISSN 2073-4352). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials for Energy Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 November 2025 | Viewed by 2419

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute for the Study of Nanostructured Materials (ISMN)—Italian National Research Council (CNR), via Ugo la Malfa 153, 90146 Palermo, Italy
Interests: solid oxide cells; structural analysis; electrochemical properties; perovskite oxides; solution combustion synthesis

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute for the Study of Nanostructured Materials (ISMN)—Italian National Research Council (CNR), via Ugo la Malfa 153, 90146 Palermo, Italy
Interests: biofuels; platform molecules; hybrid catalysts; interesterification; fischer-tropsch; biomass to chemicals conversion; microwave assisted synthesis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It is a pleasure for us to invite you to contribute to the Special Issue on “Sustainable Heterogeneous Catalyst: From Structure to Application”.

Human society is today facing several challenges that must be overcome in order to restore the planet’s well-being through such activities as the clean energy transition, a shift to a circular economy, carbon neutrality and sustainable sourcing of critical raw materials. In this regard, the Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) are globally considered effective tools. Advanced materials and chemicals are key for the development of sustainable catalysts that can be used in environmentally friendly applications, resulting in green processes. In this Special Issue, we aim to deepen knowledge regarding innovative technologies such as (i) fuel cells producing green energy; (ii) devices based on photo(electro)catalysts, electrocatalysts, photothermal catalysts, etc., for the conversion of CO2 into fuels or value-added chemical products; (iii) systems for green hydrogen production; (iv) multifunctional catalysts for cascade conversion of biomass to value-added products and fuels. To make these technologies, and others, competitive at large scales, several types of catalysts should be explored. We welcome papers concerning inorganic, organic and hybrid materials focusing on correlations between synthesis and structural and functional properties. Original articles or reviews may deal with, but are not limited to, single-crystal or polycrystalline materials, 2D or 3D structures and composite or heterostructure materials. Submitted papers should address correlations between structure and catalytic activity through characterization in terms of structural analysis, surface, microstructural, textural and redox investigations. Moreover, the stability and efficiency of catalysts in their field of application should be taken into account. Special attention will be devoted to sustainable synthesis based on second raw precursors, green solvents or solvent-free reactions as well as mechanosynthesis, encompassing innovative procedures such as microwave-assisted synthesis. In addition, computational modelling studies to predict and design innovative catalysts for cutting-edge applications are also highly sought-after.

Dr. Chiara Aliotta
Dr. Marco Russo
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. Crystals 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 2100 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

  • heterogeneous catalyst
  • electrocatalysts
  • photocatalysts
  • thermal catalysts
  • green chemistry
  • structural-activity studies
  • biofuels platform molecules energy CO2 conversion

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

13 pages, 4255 KiB  
Article
Hydrothermal Synthesis of ZnO Nanoflowers: Exploring the Relationship between Morphology, Defects, and Photocatalytic Activity
by Essam M. Abdel-Fattah, Salman M. Alshehri, Satam Alotibi, Mohammed Alyami and Doaa Abdelhameed
Crystals 2024, 14(10), 892; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst14100892 - 14 Oct 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1956
Abstract
Two forms of flower-like ZnO nanostructures were synthesized using hydrothermal methods at various growth times/temperatures and zinc precursors. The morphology, structure, chemical composition, and optical properties of these ZnO nanoflowers were studied using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), X-ray [...] Read more.
Two forms of flower-like ZnO nanostructures were synthesized using hydrothermal methods at various growth times/temperatures and zinc precursors. The morphology, structure, chemical composition, and optical properties of these ZnO nanoflowers were studied using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), X-ray photoelectrons spectroscopy (XPS), Raman spectroscopy, and UV–Vis spectroscopy. The SEM images revealed two forms of flower-like nanostructures, namely lotus- and tulip-like flower ZnO nanostructures. The XPS analysis revealed the oxidation state of the Zn and O elements, as well as the presence of OH groups on the surface of the lotus-like flower ZnO nanostructure. The XRD results revealed less crystallinity of the lotus-like ZnO nanoflowers (NFs) compared with the tulip-like ZnO NFs. The XRD results revealed the presence of Zn (OH)2 in the ZnO NFs. The Raman results confirmed less crystallinity of the lotus-like ZnO NFs. The estimated optical bandgap was 2.92 and 3.0 eV for the tulip- and lotus-like ZnO NFs, respectively. The tulip-like ZnO NFs showed superior photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye, verified via UV–Vis radiation, compared with the lotus-like ZnO NFs, which show the impact of the structure defects and OH- impurities on the photocatalytic performance of ZnO nanoflowers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Heterogeneous Catalyst: From Structure to Application)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop