In order to produce valuable syngas, industrial processes of dry reforming of methane and steam reforming of methane must be further developed. This paper is focused on reviewing recently examined catalysts, supporting the mentioned technologies. In both processes the most popular active material choice is usually nickel, due to its good availability. On the other hand, noble metals, such as ruthenium, rhodium or platinum, provide better performance, however the solution is not cost-effective. Materials used as a support influence the catalytic activity. Oxides with basic properties, such as MgO, Al ₂ O ₃ , CeO ₂ , are frequently used as carriers. One of the most promising materials for reforming of methane technologies are hydrotalcites, due to adjustable composition, acid-base properties and possibility of incorporation of various metals and complexes.

One of the most harmful compounds are nitrogen oxides. Currently, the common industrial method of nitrogen oxides emission control is selective catalytic reduction with ammonia (NH₃-SCR). Among all of the recognized measures, NH₃-SCR is the most effective and reaches even up to 90% of NOx conversion. The presence of the catalyst provides the surface for the reaction to proceed and lowers the activation energy. The optimum temperature of the process is in the range of 150–450 °C and the majority of the commercial installations utilize vanadium oxide (V₂O₅) supported on titanium oxide (TiO₂) in a form of anatase, wash coated on a honeycomb monolith or deposited on a plate-like structures. In order to improve the mechanical stability and chemical resistance, the system is usually promoted with tungsten oxide (WO₃) or molybdenum oxide (MoO3). The efficiency of the commercial V₂O₅-WO₃-TiO₂ catalyst of NH₃-SCR, can be gradually decreased with time of its utilization. Apart from the physical deactivation, such as high temperature sintering, attrition and loss of the active elements by volatilization, the system can suffer from chemical poisoning. All of the presented deactivating agents pass for the most severe poisons of V₂O₅-WO₃-TiO₂. In order to minimize the harmful influence of H₂O, SO₂, alkali metals, heavy metals and halogens, a number of methods has been developed. Some of them improve the resistance to poisons and some are focused on recovery of the catalytic system. Nevertheless, since the amount of highly contaminated fuels combusted in power plants and industry gradually increases, more effective poisoning-preventing and regeneration measures are still in high demand.

MCM-22, MCM-36, and ITQ-2 zeolites with the intended Si/Al molar ratios of 15, 25, and 50 were synthetized and tested as catalysts for dehydration of methanol to dimethyl ether and dehydration of ethanol to diethyl ether and ethylene. The surface concentration of acid sites was regulated by the synthesis of zeolite precursors with different aluminum content in the zeolite framework, while the influence of porous structure on the overall efficiency of alcohol conversion was analyzed by application of zeolitic materials with different types of porosity—microporous MCM-22 as well as microporous-mesoporous MCM-36 and ITQ-2. The zeolitic samples were characterized with respect to their: chemical composition (ICP-OES), structure (XRD, FT-IR), texture (N₂ sorption), and surface acidity (NH₃-TPD). Comparison of the catalytic activity of the studied zeolitic catalysts with other reported catalytic systems, including zeolites with the similar Si/Al ratio as well as γ-Al₂O₃ (one of the commercial catalysts for methanol dehydration), shows a great potential of MCM-22, MCM-36, and ITQ-2 in the reactions of alcohols dehydration.

Carbonaceous catalysts are promising materials for the low-temperature (< 523 K) process of NO reduction with ammonia. Based on literature and own experience of the authors, this review focuses on the possibilities to enhance their catalytic performance. It may be increased by the introduction of oxygen or nitrogen functionalities. So obtained materials may be used in SCR-NH ₃ either as catalysts or supports for transition metals oxides/hydroxides. Oxygen functionalities increase activity only to a small extent, but are necessary to prepare an efficient MeO _x /AC catalyst. Nitrogen surface species lead to a considerable increase in DeNO _x activity, as well as stability towards their oxidation to CO ₂ . As the most efficient active components, oxides of V, Mn, Fe and Cu were found. H ₂ O leads to the decrease of activity but for some catalysts additionally to the increase in selectivity. The understanding of SO ₂ influence needs more experimental data. There still are several open questions concerning more detailed mechanistic studies, and especially the role of nitrogen functionalities, H ₂ O and SO ₂ .