Our planet is currently facing dual challenges of global warming and energy crisis. The heavy reliance of the energy sector on fossil fuels significantly contributes to the accumulation of greenhouse gases, such as CH₄ and CO₂, in the environment atmosphere, exacerbating global warming. Stabilized zirconia-based material offer a promising solutions to address both challenges. As a catalytic support material, active sites incorporated stabilized-zirconia can facilitate the conversions of greenhouse gases like CH₄ and CO₂ into syngas (H₂ and CO). This reaction is popularly known as dry reforming of methane (DRM). Additionally, stabilized zirconia-based materials act as solid-state electrolyte in fuel cells enabling the electrochemical conversion of H₂ and O₂ to generate electricity. Both processes require high-temperature stability and oxide ionic conductivity, making “Ca, Mg, Sc, Y-stabilized zirconia” an optimal choice. In DRM, the key factors influencing catalytic efficiency include metal–support interaction, reducibility, and basicity. Meanwhile, for solid oxide fuel cells, performance is governed by factors such as size-fit, charge imbalance, dopant miscibility, ion conducting phases, densification, electrolyte thickness, and grain boundary volume. This compressive review explores the dual functionality of “Ca, Mg, Sc, Y-stabilized zirconia” as a catalyst’support for DRM and as an solid electrolyte for fuel cells. The most promising research outcomes are highlighted, and future research directions are outlined. By bringing together the catalytic and fuel cell research communities, this study aims to advance sustainable energy technologies and contribute to mitigating environmental and energy crisis through the development of stabilized zirconia-based materials.

CH₄ is a powerful greenhouse gas that is thought to be one of the main causes of global warming. The catalytic conversion of methane in the presence of oxygen into hydrogen-rich syngas, known as the partial oxidation of methane (POM), is highly appealing for environmental and synthetic concerns. In search of a cheap catalytic system, the Ni-supported MgO-based (5Ni/MgO) catalyst and the promotional supplement of 1–3 wt.% Sr over 5Ni/MgO are investigated for the POM reaction. Catalysts are characterized by N₂ sorption isotherm analysis, X-ray diffraction spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, temperature-programmed desorption techniques, and thermogravimetry. Increasing the loading of strontium over Ni/MgO induced a strong interaction of NiO with the support, pronouncedly. In the presence of oxygen during the POM, the moderate-level interaction of NiO with the support grows markedly. Overall, at a 600 °C reaction temperature, the 5Ni2Sr/MgO catalyst shows 72% CH₄ conversion (~67% H₂ yield) at 14,400 mL/h/g_cat GHSV and ~86% CH₄ conversion (84% H₂ yield) at 3600 mL/h/g_cat GHSV. Achieving a higher activity towards the POM over cheap Ni, Sr, and MgO-based catalysts might draw the attention of environmentalists and industrialists as a low-cost and high-yield system.

Plastic-to-hydrogen technology is applied to convert waste plastics into clean fuel via pyrolysis, gasification, reforming, and photo/electro methods, supporting waste management, sustainable energy generation, and circular economy development. Created with Biorender and Canva.

In the race for industrialization and urbanization, the concentration of greenhouse gases like CO₂ and CH₄ is growing rapidly and ultimately resulting in global warming. An Ni-based catalyst over MgO support (Ni/MgO) offers a catalytic method for the conversion of these gases into hydrogen and carbon monoxide through the dry reforming of methane (DRM) reaction. In the current research work, 1–4 wt% strontium is investigated as a cheap promoter over a 5Ni/MgO catalyst to modify the reducibility and basicity for the goal of excelling the H₂ yield and H₂/CO ratio through the DRM reaction. The fine catalytic activities’ correlations with characterization results (like X-ray diffraction, surface area porosity, photoelectron–Raman–infrared spectroscopy, and temperature-programmed reduction/desorption (TPR/TPD)) are established. The 5Ni/MgO catalyst with a 3 wt.% Sr loading attained the highest concentration of stable active sites and the maximum population of very strong basic sites. 5Ni3Sr/MgO surpassed 53% H₂ yield (H₂/CO ~0.8) at 700 °C and 85% H₂ yield (H₂/CO ratio ~0.9) at 800 °C. These outcomes demonstrate the catalyst’s effectiveness and affordability. Higher Sr loading (>3 wt%) resulted in a weaker metal–support contact, the production of free NiO, and a lower level of catalytic activity for the DRM reaction. The practical and cheap 5Ni3Sr/MgO catalyst is scalable in industries to achieve hydrogen energy goals while mitigating greenhouse gas concentrations.

Drinking water defluoridation has attracted significant attention in the scientific community, from which membrane technology, by exploring thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes, has demonstrated a great potential for treating fluoride-contaminated water. This study investigates the development of a TFN membrane by integrating titanium oxide nanosheets (TiO₂ NSs) into the polyamide (PA) layer using interfacial polymerization. The characterization results suggest that successfully incorporating TiO₂ NSs into the PA layer of the TFN membrane led to a surface with a high negative charge, hydrophilic properties, and a smooth surface at the nanoscale. The TFN membrane, containing 80 ppm of TiO₂ NSs, demonstrated a notably high fluoride rejection rate of 98%. The Donnan-steric-pore-model-dielectric-exclusion model was employed to analyze the effect of embedding TiO₂ NSs into the PA layer of TFN on membrane properties, including charge density (X_d), the pore radius (r_p), and pore dielectric constant (ε_p). The results indicated that embedding TiO₂ NSs increased X_d and decreased the εp by less than the TFC membrane without significantly affecting the r_p. The resulting TFN membrane demonstrates promising potential for application in water treatment systems, providing an effective and sustainable solution for fluoride remediation in drinking water.

Hydrogen supports clean energy transition, yet most production remains fossil-based. This review explores “All Water to Hydrogen,” integrating freshwater, seawater, wastewater, and greywater for sustainable hydrogen generation. AI-assisted design features were used during image preparation.