Dear Colleagues,

The growing concerns of the energy crisis and environmental pollution are calling for a viable and sustainable solution. Case in point, to reduce and eventually eliminate our dependence on fossil fuels, efficient and affordable electrochemical energy conversion technologies should be largely implemented. This idea relies heavily on the development of fuel cells, electrolyzers, and batteries, of which the performance is limited by the electrode reactions due to their multiple charge- and proton-transfer steps, which occur typically at three-phase interfaces.

Electrocatalysts with the intention of accelerating the chemical–electricity conversion are currently suffering from unsatisfactory tradeoff between activity, durability, and cost. Boosting the intrinsic activity and the active site density is the key solution, and the use of metal- and nitrogen-codoped carbon (M-N-C) materials with single-atom sites exemplifies such an approach.

This Special Issue entitled “Recent Advancements in M-N-C Catalysts for Electrochemical Energy Conversion Devices” welcomes the submission of manuscripts in the form of original research articles, short communications, and reviews. The topics include M-N-C materials with single-atom sites for all types of energy conversion devices, such as fuel cells, water electrolyzers, CO₂ reduction electrolyzers, N₂ reduction electrolyzers, batteries, etc.

Experimental and theoretical insights on M-N-C electrocatalyst synthesis, characterization, structure-performance relationship, reaction intermediate pathways, and degradation mechanisms are particularly welcome. Furthermore, electrode structure studies to understand the catalyst aggregate size, catalyst pore size, ionomer distribution, ion transfer and mass transport in bulk electrode, etc., and their impacts on device performance are also kindly invited.

Dr. Hao Wang
Dr. Luigi Osmieri
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. 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 2700 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.

• M-N-C electrocatalysts
• Single-atom electrocatalysts
• Battery
• Fuel cell
• Electrolysis
• Oxygen reduction/evolution reaction
• Hydrogen evolution/oxidation reaction
• CO₂ reduction reaction
• N₂ reduction reaction
• Electrode structure