Porous silica particles have shown applications in various technological fields including their use as catalyst supports in heterogeneous catalysis. The mesoporous silica particles have ordered porosity, high surface area, and good chemical stability. These interesting structural or textural properties make porous silica an attractive material for use as catalyst supports in various heterogeneous catalysis reactions. The colloidal nature of the porous silica particles is highly useful in catalytic applications as it guarantees better mass transfer properties and uniform distribution of the various metal or metal oxide nanocatalysts in solution. The catalysts show high activity, low degree of metal leaching, and ease in recycling when supported or immobilized on porous silica-based materials. In this overview, we have pointed out the importance of porous silica as catalyst supports. A variety of chemical reactions catalyzed by different catalysts loaded or embedded in porous silica supports are studied. The latest reports from the literature about the use of porous silica-based materials as catalyst supports are listed and analyzed. The new and continued trends are discussed with examples.

Supercapacitors have gained significant attention as energy storage devices due to their high specific power, fast charge–discharge rate and extended cycling stability. Recent research focuses on the search for new electrode materials to enhance the specific capacitance of supercapacitors. Conducting polymers (CPs) and metal oxides (MOs) are being extensively tested as electrode materials in supercapacitors. CPs have poor cycling stability and low mechanical strength but are easy to process, while MOs exhibit easy availability, variable oxidation states and possess high specific capacitance, but they are somewhat difficult to process. Therefore, combining both (CP) and (MO) in a composite offers better results for the electrochemical performance of supercapacitors. This review mainly focuses on the discussion of CP/MO based nanocomposites recently reported for supercapacitor applications. The collective information presented in this report will provide researchers a view into the latest developments in this field. The continued research on this topic will reveal further potential applications of CP/MO composites.