We are so honored to present a special issue on the topic of “metal-based materials for energy catalysis” as Guest Editors of the journal Rare Metals.It showcases most recent research advances on metal-based energy catalysis and provides review and outlook for this area.The exhaustion of fossil energy drives the ongoing development of renewable energy conversion and storage.Featured by many intrinsic advantages, metal-based catalysts are key to the development of energy conversion and storage devices and have been at the center of extensive and intensive studies in the past few decades.Researches on metal-based catalysts have spanned from metallic alloys to oxides and nitrides, from nanoparticles to nanowires, nanosheets and frame-like morphologies, from porous structure to core/shell structure, etc.Still, there are a wide variety of challenges in terms of scientific fundamentals and practical application yet to be solved.