Mesoporous Silica Supported Nanocatalysts for the Oil and Gas Industry Recent Advances Challenges and Future Perspectives

Mesoporous silica materials have emerged as one of the most versatile platforms for heterogeneous catalysis owing to their exceptionally high surface area, controllable pore architecture, outstanding thermal stability, and tunable surface functionality. Over the past decade, these materials have been intensively investigated as robust supports for stabilizing and dispersing a wide range of active nanoparticles, leading to the development of highly efficient nanostructured catalysts tailored for complex oil and gas processes. This review presents a critical and comprehensive assessment of recent progress in the rational design, synthesis, and functionalization of mesoporous silica-supported nanocatalysts. Particular emphasis is placed on widely studied frameworks such as SBA-۱۵, MCM-۴۱, KIT-۶, and related structures, highlighting their physicochemical properties, synthesis strategies, and surface engineering approaches. In addition, state-of-the-art techniques for nanoparticle incorporation—including impregnation, deposition–precipitation, grafting, confinement, and in situ growth—are systematically discussed in relation to metal dispersion, stability, and metal–support interactions. The catalytic performance of these hybrid systems is critically evaluated across key industrial reactions such as hydrogenation, hydrocracking, reforming, hydrodesulfurization, and CO₂ valorization, with an emphasis on structure–activity relationships and reaction mechanisms. Finally, major challenges including scalability, long-term stability, and resistance to deactivation are outlined, and future research directions are proposed to accelerate the development of next-generation mesoporous silica-based nanocatalysts for sustainable and high-efficiency energy applications.

کلیدواژه ها:

Mesoporous silica ، Nanocatalysts ، Catalyst supports ، Oil and gas processes ، Heterogeneous catalysis