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Computational Chemistry and Theoretical Catalysis for Nanomaterial-Catalyzed Chemical Conversion and Energy Storage

A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Theory and Simulation of Nanostructures".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 April 2026) | Viewed by 1412

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL 60439, USA
Interests: employing first-principle simulation and machine learning approaches to achieve catalyst design for chemical conversion and energy storage applications
Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL 60439, USA
Interests: computational catalysts/materials design for energy conversion and storage; development of computational methods and models for complex catalytic systems; development of high-level quantum mechanical methods for solid-state catalysis
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Guest Editor
Chemistry Department, University of Dallas, Irving, TX 75062, USA
Interests: computational chemistry; catalysis; machine learning; AI; photocatalysis; electrocatalysis; XANES

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

With the current energy crisis and materials shortage and the growing urgency of sustainability challenges, the development of advanced catalyst materials has become essential. Computational chemistry and theoretical catalysis play critical roles in guiding and supporting the design of catalysts for chemical conversion and energy storage applications. These approaches offer valuable insights into the reaction mechanisms, catalyst properties, structure–activity relationships, and fundamental principles of materials design. Today, the integration of machine learning and artificial intelligence into catalyst design and discovery represents a new research frontier, enabling accelerated innovation and a deeper understanding of this field.

This Special Issue of Nanomaterials focuses on showcasing the current state of the art in the application of computational chemistry, theoretical catalysis, and machine learning for designing and understanding catalytic materials. By compiling research that integrates these advanced methodologies, this Special Issue aims to provide fundamental insights into catalytic systems, facilitating the rational design of high-performance nanoscale catalysts. We invite leading research groups in the field to contribute original research articles and reviews to this Special Issue to ensure a comprehensive and balanced overview of recent advances and emerging trends in nanocatalysis.

Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Molecular insights into active sites, reaction mechanisms, and kinetics via advanced characterization, computational modeling, and experiments.
  • Design and synthesis of catalyst materials guided by structure–activity relationships and machine learning.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Jiayi Xu
Dr. Cong Liu
Dr. Prajay Patel
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 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. Nanomaterials 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 2400 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

  • computational catalysis
  • multiscale simulation
  • density functional theory
  • microkinetic modeling
  • nanomaterials
  • energy conversion and storage
  • structure–activity relationship
  • machine learning

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 2175 KB  
Article
Exploration of the Electronic and Catalytic Properties of [Co5MS8(PEt3)5]1+ Nanoclusters: A Computational Study
by Shana Havenridge, Audrey Grace Miller and Cong Liu
Nanomaterials 2026, 16(10), 587; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano16100587 - 12 May 2026
Viewed by 368
Abstract
Recent studies have demonstrated the relative stability of undercoordinated hexanuclear cobalt sulfide nanoclusters (NCs) with different charge states. Considering that these small metal NCs have atomically precise structures and high reactivity due to the open shell of the transition metals, and provide selectivity [...] Read more.
Recent studies have demonstrated the relative stability of undercoordinated hexanuclear cobalt sulfide nanoclusters (NCs) with different charge states. Considering that these small metal NCs have atomically precise structures and high reactivity due to the open shell of the transition metals, and provide selectivity toward ligand loss, they are a vital model for catalysis. In this paper, the electronic structures of these NCs are investigated. These NCs are then used as the reference state to analyze the catalytic properties with respect to hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and CO2 reduction (CO2R). Further, to understand the effect of heteroatom incorporation, the geometry and reactivity of ten different metal dopants are analyzed. This work shows that the type of metal incorporation greatly affects the electronic structure and formation energies for ligand binding and catalysis. Particularly, the d-orbital occupancy in the cobalt atoms remains largely unchanged, while the heteroatom greatly influences the reactivity of the undercoordinated NCs. Most notably, this work highlights that transition metals in [Co5MS8(PEt3)5]1+ NCs would competitively prefer electrochemical adsorption of H over COOH, while the main group metals prefer COOH adsorption. Full article
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10 pages, 2286 KB  
Article
Nanoscale Room-Temperature Na Dynamics in Layered Ruthenates Na1RuO3 and Na1.5RuO3
by Mohammad Hussein Naseef Assadi
Nanomaterials 2026, 16(10), 577; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano16100577 - 8 May 2026
Viewed by 739
Abstract
Understanding the atomic-scale ionic motion and transport in layered transition-metal oxides is essential for elucidating structural stability and electronic behaviour in complex systems. Here, we investigate nanoscale Na dynamics in Na1RuO3 and Na1.5RuO3 using room-temperature ab initiomolecular [...] Read more.
Understanding the atomic-scale ionic motion and transport in layered transition-metal oxides is essential for elucidating structural stability and electronic behaviour in complex systems. Here, we investigate nanoscale Na dynamics in Na1RuO3 and Na1.5RuO3 using room-temperature ab initiomolecular dynamics at the r2SCAN + U level. While Na mobility plays a key role in local coordination, its nanoscale mechanism remains nuanced and unexplored. Our simulations show that Na ions undergo pervasive rattling, with Na1.5RuO3 enabling exploration of larger volumes and exhibiting incipient migration compared to the more confined behaviour in Na1RuO3. In addition, oxygen’s contribution to redox capacity decreases from 43% to 24% with increasing Na content. These nanoscale insights demonstrate that tuning the local ionic environment governs charge compensation and dynamical response in ruthenate frameworks, with direct implications for the design of Na-ion battery cathodes. Full article
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