Themed collection HOT articles from RSC Sustainability

Natural organic materials might offer a sustainable solution at the crossroads of technological progress and environmental degradation.

The transition from fossil-based to solar-based energy sources is essential to minimize greenhouse gas emissions.

Polyethylene was recycled into carbon materials via tandem cross-linking and carbonization using sodium amide, enabling C–H bond cleavage and C–N bond formation, and these materials showed good performance in gas separation and energy storage.

Li ion battery cathode materials such as nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) oxide can be recovered from spent batteries and used directly as an electrocatalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). However, battery history plays a role in OER performance.

Ionic liquids and deep eutectic solvents are presented as promising solvents for the recovery of critical metals from end-of-life batteries.

Whether the world addresses global warming, air pollution, and energy insecurity in a timely manner depends largely on country transition rates to clean, renewable energy.

Stabilizing proteolytic enzymes such as chymotrypsin (CHT) remains a major challenge due to their susceptibility to denaturation and loss of activity under non-physiological conditions.

The RP-HPLC analytical method has been developed and validated for the simultaneous quantification of chlorthalidone (CHL), amlodipine (AML) and telmisartan (TEL) in a combination drug formulation.

A two-phase system using a hydrophobic deep eutectic solvent (2 mol of 4,4,4-trifluoro-1-(2-thienyl)-1,3-butanedione: 1 mol tri-n-octylphosphine oxide) and H₂O₂ enabled selective recovery of Li, Co, Ni, and Mn from spent lithium-ion batteries.

This study pioneers green synthesis of jarosite nanoparticles using banana peel extract as potassium source, outperforming magnetite in photocatalytic dye degradation.

Biomass presents a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels; however, it faces limitations such as high moisture content, low bulk density, and poor grindability.

The common issue of water contamination by pharmaceuticals are increasingly recognised as emerging contaminants in water as they pose significant environmental and health risks, necessitating innovative and sustainable approaches to water treatment.

This study shows that solvent-based washing enables safe pipette tip reuse for trace chemical analysis, with EtOH : H₂O (50 : 50, v/v) providing the best balance of cleaning, and sustainability, reducing plastic waste without performance loss.

Printing combined temperature and relative humidity sensors on fabrics and other surfaces by flexography and screen printing with a sustainable conductive organic ink.

We describe an efficient strategy for synthesizing chalcones via photocatalytic decarboxylative cross-acyl coupling of α-oxocarboxylic acid with styrene under visible light irradiation as a sustainable energy input.

Combined lignin-derived streams enable microbial synthesis of biodegradable polymers, advancing integrated chemo-biological routes toward scalable and cost-effective bioplastic production.

Aminolysis of PET using renewable reagents enables the synthesis new semi-aromatic polyamides.

Through this research, we have established an environmentally friendly and sustainable approach for the synthesis of spirobarbiturate (SB) derivatives, which hold significant potential in the field of medicinal chemistry.

The separation and recovery of PET monomers from chemical recycling is demonstrated with the use of supramolecular binding.