Nanotechnology and Nanomaterials for Sustainable Future

Dear Colleagues,

We are proposing a Special Issue entitled "Nanotechnology and Nanomaterials for Sustainable Future", on open access journal Sustainability (IF 3.3, Ranking Q2). The deadline for the submission is 31 August 2026, and papers may be submitted immediately or at any point until the deadline, as papers, will be published on an ongoing basis.

The society is currently facing two major aspects: on the one hand, an alarming increase in the requirements of high-performance new nanomaterials and products and, on the other hand, the need to achieve and operate them according to the environmental requirements of non-pollution of the environment. As a result, the researchers' efforts are directed towards the creation of new alternative materials for a sustainable environment and developing sustainable and ecological processes that satisfy (i) the performances of these materials and products according to their applications, (ii) to have low costs (price/quality ratio as low as possible), and (iii) to have an as little harmful impact as possible on the environment. Also, another important aspect is that the entire planet faces a continuous growth of the human population, which stress the ecosystem through the alarming level of environmental pollution, with waste resulting from energy-consuming technologies and fossil fuels, as well as poor management of domestic and industrial waste. In this context, the researchers' efforts are thus focused on achieving these requirements by developing novel materials at nano- and micro-scale for a sustainable environment as well as sustainable and ecological processes, including the cutting-edge ones.

The objective of the current Special Issue is to gather outstanding studies dealing with current research interests in the areas of development of novel nanomaterials, or exploiting micro/nano fabrication and integration of various processes in clean technology, which reduce the knowledge gap between materials and system designs, improve existing technologies, and substantially reduce environmental pollution.

The micro/nano fabrication and nanomaterials can include optoelectronics, physical electronics, photonic, electronic, MEMS/NEMS, nanosensors, field ionization, and field emission devices, low-cost photovoltaic, renewable sources, or energy harvesting. 

In addition, we welcome to receive both original research and review articles in the fields of development of nano-engineered materials for solar energy applications, including thermal and storage materials, nanostructured composites, nanomaterials used in sensing applications, exploring the electrical, mechanical, physical, and chemical properties of them and integration of the most cutting-edge technologies, like nanotechnology, for clean and renewable energy.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Integration of nanomaterial to allow production and/or use with less impact on the environment;
• Developments of nanomaterials for nanosensors applications in detection of toxins or waste from soil/air/waters;
• Advanced manufacturing processes with reduced energy, water, and materials;
• Demonstrating nanomaterials in novel technologies for sustainable energy and environmental systems;
• Sustainable fuel generations through efficient photo-/thermo-/electro-/chemo-catalysis;
• Nanotechnology applications for removing heavy metal ions and contaminants of emerging concerns from wastewaters.

Dr. Ileana Nicoleta Popescu
Dr. Badriyah Alhalaili
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. Sustainability 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.

• sustainable environment
• novel materials
• nanomaterials
• composites
• eco-friendly materials
• ecological processes
• nanotechnology
• green technology