Advanced Materials for Hydrogen Technologies in Fuel Cells: Design, Durability, and Future Performance
A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Materials".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 June 2026 | Viewed by 2
Special Issue Editor
Interests: hydrogen; infrastructure; process engineering; chemical processes
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Hydrogen fuel cell technologies are central to global decarbonisation efforts; however, their widespread commercial adoption remains constrained by materials-related challenges involving cost, durability, degradation, and scalable manufacturing. Advances in fuel cell efficiency, reliability, and lifetime are fundamentally governed by progress in materials design, synthesis, processing, and characterisation.
This Special Issue focuses on advanced materials for hydrogen technologies in fuel cells, covering recent developments in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), alkaline fuel cells, and emerging electrochemical energy-conversion systems. Emphasis is placed on understanding structure–property–performance relationships, degradation mechanisms, and strategies to enhance durability and sustainability under realistic operating conditions.
The Special Issue welcomes original research articles and comprehensive review papers addressing the development, optimisation, and characterisation of fuel cell materials, including electrocatalysts, catalyst supports, electrolyte membranes, membrane–electrode assemblies, bipolar plates, interconnects, and protective coatings. Contributions related to advanced fabrication and processing methods, surface modification, additive manufacturing, multiscale modelling, in situ, and operando characterisation techniques, as well as recycling and critical-material reduction strategies, are encouraged.
This Special Issue aims to provide a focused platform for materials scientists, chemists, and energy researchers to disseminate high-quality research that bridges fundamental materials science and applied fuel cell engineering, thereby supporting the development of efficient, durable, and scalable hydrogen fuel cell technologies.
Dr. Somtochukwu Godfrey Nnabuife
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. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2600 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
- hydrogen fuel cell materials
- proton exchange membrane (PEM) materials
- solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) materials
- electrocatalysts and catalyst supports
- membrane–electrode assemblies (MEAs)
- materials degradation and durability
- advanced materials characterisation
- sustainable and scalable fuel cell materials
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.
