Organized in collaboration with the ACS Physical Chemistry Summit in 2024, this Special Issue seeks submissions that deepen our understanding of heterogeneous catalysis—specifically the mechanistic fundamentals governing catalytic activity and long-term stability. Submit your manuscript by February 28, 2026.
Building on discussions and presentations at the 2024 ACS Physical Chemistry Summit: Exploring the Fundamentals of Activity and Stability in Heterogeneous Catalysis, this Special Issue aims to bring together cutting-edge research focused on unraveling the interplay between atomic-scale structure, catalytic performance, and durability.
Heterogeneous catalysis lies at the heart of processes such as energy conversion, environmental remediation, and chemical synthesis. Yet challenges persist—especially those related to catalyst deactivation, sintering, poisoning, and stability under dynamic operating conditions.
By highlighting both theoretical and experimental advances, this Special Issue intends to:
- Showcase emerging tools for characterizing activity and stability, from in situ/operando spectroscopy to multi-scale modeling.
- Bridge fundamental mechanistic insights with practical design strategies for resilient catalysts.
- Foster cross-disciplinary synergy between surface science, computational modeling, materials engineering, and reaction chemistry.
The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters and The Journal of Physical Chemistry C are pleased to announce an upcoming joint Special Issue which aims to highlight the exciting research in this field. Please see below for submission information.
Topics include, but are not limited to:
- Mechanistic insights into active site structure—identification and dynamics during catalysis.
- Operando and in situ techniques probing catalyst evolution under reaction conditions.
- Computational modeling: ab initio, microkinetic, and multi-scale simulations of activity and stability.
- Machine learning and data-driven approaches for predicting catalyst lifetime and failure modes.
- Catalyst-support and promoter interactions influencing robustness.
- Design of stable catalysts for energy conversion (e.g., fuel cells, electrolysis) and environmental applications.
- Materials innovations: doped oxides, core–shell structures, alloy nanocatalysts, high-entropy systems.
- Reaction engineering strategies that mitigate degradation (temperature cycling, feed modulation, surface restructuring).
Organizing Editors
Prof. Qiang Fu, Senior Editor, The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters
Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, China
Prof. Guo Hua, Senior Editor, The Journal of Physical Chemistry C
University of New Mexico, United States
Prof. Zhi-pan Liu, Executive Editor, The Journal of Physical Chemistry C
Fudan University, China
Submission Information
We welcome submissions for this Special Issue through February 28, 2026. For more information on submission requirements, please visit the journal’s Author Guidelines page for The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters or The Journal of Physical Chemistry C.
Papers accepted for publication for this Special Issue will be available ASAP (as soon as publishable) online. After all submissions have been published, they will then be compiled online on a dedicated landing page to form the Special Issue. Manuscripts submitted for consideration will undergo the full rigorous peer review process expected from ACS journals.
Indicate that you wish to be included in the Special Issue in your cover letter, not in the manuscript itself.
As with all submissions to The Journal of Physical Chemistry, your manuscript should represent a rigorous scientific report of original research, as it will be peer-reviewed as a regular article. Manuscripts are expected to provide new physical insight and/or present new theoretical or experimental methods of broad interest.
Open access: There are diverse open access options for publications in American Chemical Society journals. Please visit our Open Science Resource Center for more information.
About The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters
About The Journal of Physical Chemistry C
How to Submit
- Log in to the ACS Publishing Center.
- Select the “Journals” tab.
- Choose The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters or The Journal of Physical Chemistry C.
- Click "Submit."
- If submitting to The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters: select your manuscript type, and, under "Special Issue Selection," choose “Fundamentals of Activity and Stability in Heterogeneous Catalysis”.
- If submitting to The Journal of Physical Chemistry C: please indicate in your cover letter that you wish to be included in the “Fundamentals of Activity and Stability in Heterogeneous Catalysis” Special Issue.
If you are unsure if your research is within the issue’s scope or have other questions about submitting a manuscript to this Special Issue, please email eic@jpclett.acs.org or eic@jpc.acs.org.
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