Author Archive

ICM Spotlight: A Review on Soft Porous Crystals by Susumu Kitagawa — Newly Minted Nobel Laureate 2025

Industrial Chemistry & Materials (ICM) warmly congratulates Professor Susumu Kitagawa, member of the ICM Advisory Board, on being awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2025.

This prestigious honor recognizes Prof. Kitagawa’s pioneering contributions to the development of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) — innovations that have revolutionized materials chemistry and opened new frontiers in gas storage and separation, chemical sensors, water harvesting and purification, heterogeneous catalysis, energy storage, and drug delivery.

 

His recent review on flexible MOFs has been published in ICM in July 2025:

Soft porous crystals: flexible MOFs as a new class of adaptive materials
Jiahui Guo, Sai Chu, Fangli Yuan, Ken-ichi Otake,* Ming-Shui Yao* and Susumu Kitagawa*
Read for free: https://doi.org/10.1039/D5IM00067J

 

In this review, Prof. Kitagawa and co-authors summarized key advancements in SPCs across dosage-related applications, including moderate and high-dose scenarios as well as trace or low-dose ones. They emphasized the significance of “dose-sensitive” applications for “scaling softness” in industrialization. They reveal the promising applications of SPCs in fields such as gas storage and separation, catalysis, nuclear industry, and devices, providing valuable guidance for future material design and process development. This insightful review also provided an outlook on the remaining challenges to this field under real-world conditions.

This article has also been featured on EurekAlert!. Read the EurekAlert! coverage here.

 

Professor Susumu Kitagawa is a Distinguished Professor at Kyoto University, Japan. He is a Member of the Japan Academy (2019) and Foreign Member of the Royal Society (2023). His main research field is inorganic and material chemistry, in particular, chemistry of coordination space, and his current research interests are centered on synthesis and properties of porous coordination polymers/metal-organic frameworks. He is a pioneer in the development of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) who was the first to discover and to demonstrate “porosity” for metal complexes with gas sorption experiments (1997).

 

 

 

 

 


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Top 10 Most Downloaded Articles in the First Half of 2025

We are delighted to unveil the Top 10 Most Downloaded Articles from the first half of 2025! These standout papers have captured wide attention across the community, showcasing cutting-edge research and impactful discoveries. Dive in and explore these hot articles!

Read these HOT articles for free!

Strategies to enable microsized alloy anodes for high-energy and long-life alkali-ion batteries

Amine Daali, Gui-Liang Xu,* Khalil Amine* et al.

Citation: Ind. Chem. Mater., 2024, 2, 489-513.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D3IM00126A

Recent progress in metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) for electrocatalysis

Cha Li, Jiandong Pang,* Xian-He Bu* et al.

Citation: Ind. Chem. Mater., 2023, 1, 9-38.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D2IM00063F

Ionic liquid/poly(ionic liquid)-based electrolytes for lithium batteries

Xinyu Ma, John Texter,* Feng Yan* et al.

Citation: Ind. Chem. Mater., 2023, 1, 39-59.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D2IM00051B

Design of functional binders for high-specific-energy lithium-ion batteries: From molecular structure to electrode properties

Tian Qin, Quan Li,* Xiqian Yu,* Hong Li et al.

Citation: Ind. Chem. Mater., 2024, 2, 191-225.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D3IM00089C

Recent progress and challenges in silicon-based anode materials for lithium-ion batteries

Gazi Farhan Ishraque Toki, Li Wang,* Jianping Yang* et al.

Citation: Ind. Chem. Mater., 2024, 2, 226-269.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D3IM00115F

Ammonia as a carbon-free hydrogen carrier for fuel cells: A perspective

Lingling Zhai, Shizhen Liu and Zhonghua Xiang*

Citation: Ind. Chem. Mater., 2023, 1, 332-342.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D3IM00036B

Catalyst design for ammonia decomposition: An overview

Tong Han, Lu Wei,* Jiguang Deng* et al.

Citation: Ind. Chem. Mater., 2025, 3, 311-331.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D4IM00112E

Electrochemical CO2 reduction with ionic liquids: Review and evaluation

Yangshuo Li, Xiaoyan Ji* et al.

Citation: Ind. Chem. Mater., 2023, 1, 410-430.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D2IM00055E

Recent progress of manganese dioxide based electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction

Jiamei Wei, Dong Cao,* Daojian Cheng* et al.

Citation: Ind. Chem. Mater., 2024, 2, 7-29.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D3IM00054K

Catalytic conversion network for lignocellulosic biomass valorization: A panoramic view

Shenyu Wang, Wei Fan,* Ying Zhang* et al.

Citation: Ind. Chem. Mater., 2023, 1, 188-206.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D2IM00054G

 


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Empowering Future Innovators: Industrial Chemistry & Materials PhD Forum

On 3 August 2025, the Industrial Chemistry & Materials (ICM) PhD Forum was held in Yangzhou, China, as part of the 4th National Youth Forum on Energy Chemistry (Chinese Chemical Society). The forum was organized by ICM Editorial Office and chaired by Prof. Jieshan Qiu from Beijing University of Chemical Technology, with esteemed expert commentators including Prof. Jinkui Feng (Shandong University), Prof. Qilong Zhu (Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, CAS), Prof. Chao Lai (Jiangsu Normal University) and Prof. Qing Zhao (Nankai University).

The forum brought together 15 exceptional postdoctoral researchers and PhD candidates from chemical engineering and materials science. These young scholars were selected through a rigorous process combining expert recommendations and self-nominations, ensuring a diverse and high-quality lineup of speakers. Each participant delivered insightful oral presentations, highlighting cutting-edge advancements of their disciplines. After each presentation, the four expert commentators provided insightful feedback, engaged in discussions, and offered valuable research suggestions. The presenters greatly benefited from this exchange, which aligns perfectly with ICM’s mission—creating a premier platform for academic dialogue and collaboration.

 

List of Oral Presentations:

 

ICM is dedicated to fostering the growth of young scholars and providing a world-class platform for academic exchange. Through initiatives like this PhD Forum, ICM aims to bridge the gap between emerging talents and established experts, encouraging collaborative efforts and furthering the development of scientific research in industrial chemistry and materials science.

 

Big News: Industrial Chemistry & Materials Receives Its First Impact Factor – 11.9!

On June 18, Clarivate officially released the 2024 Journal Citation Reports (JCR), and we are thrilled to announce that Industrial Chemistry & Materials (ICM) has received its first Impact Factor: 11.9!

ICM is ranked 10/175 in ENGINEERING, CHEMICAL (Top 5.4%, Q1), and 45/460 in MATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY (Top 9.7%, Q1).

Since its launch in February 2023, ICM has published 11 issues and 130 high-quality articles, with total downloads exceeding 630,000 times—a strong testament to the journal’s growing influence and the global interest in cutting-edge industrial chemistry and materials science.

The rapid progress of ICM would not have been possible without the steadfast support of our authors, editorial board members, reviewers, and readers. We extend our heartfelt thanks for your professional dedication and academic enthusiasm!

Looking ahead, ICM will continue to move forward with determination—striving to become a world-class platform for academic exchange and innovation in the fields of industrial chemistry and materials science.


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