Themed collection RSC Sustainability 2023 Hot Papers

As the global energy landscape transitions towards a more diversified mix, with electricity and hydrogen constituting half of the final energy consumption by 2050, the focus on efficient and sustainable hydrogen production intensifies.

Chemistry has a vital role in enabling the reductions in greenhouse gases, stewardship of material resources and new production processes needed to bring net CO₂ emissions to zero by 2050, keeping within 1.5 °C of global warming.

The developments in enzymology and biocatalytic processes designed as per the rules of green chemistry and green engineering are the keys to the concepts of biorefinery and bioeconomy which in turn enable sustainable development.

Presented here is an overview of progress in one approach to reducing greenhouse gas emission, namely substituting photosynthesis generated, woody biomass for fossil carbon as feedstock in the production of chemicals and liquid fuels.

Key reactions and possible biomass resources for the synthesis of industrially important unsaturated compounds are summarized.

Enabling the design of silica materials with ordered and controllable pore structure using the principles of green and sustainable chemistry.

Current European (EU) policies, such as the Green Deal, envisage safe and sustainable by design (SSbD) practices for the management of chemicals, which cogently entail nanomaterials (NMs) and advanced materials (AdMa).

Cu-MOF has gained attention due to its exceptional thermal stability, large surface area and pore volume. This review summarizes its advantages covering synthesis, reactivity and applications in removing toxic pharmaceutical residues from wastewater.

3D printing has been elaborated in all stages of a continuous flow biocatalytic process, from the reactor to the support material for biocatalyst confinement or the peripheral accessories that can establish a highly controlled process.

This review highlights how the inherent properties of cellulose have been employed to improve the properties of ionic conductive hydrogels (IHCs) and their application in fabricating iontronics.

Vegetable oils and lipids, terpenes, lignin derivatives, carbohydrates, and proteins are used as biomass feedstock to prepare new bio-based monomers for radical polymerization in aqueous dispersed media, producing bio-based latexes.

Production quantity ratio of petroleum derived chemical products. This also presents the concept of replacing all petroleum-based chemical products with natural biomass-based chemical products.

Rare Earths (REs) are referred to as ‘industrial vitamins’ and play an indispensable role in a variety of domains.

This tutorial review showcases the diversity & utility of organophosphorus molecules, focusing on P(V) structures. Their rich nomenclature, application & industrial synthesis will be highlighted within the context of sustainable chemistry.

Immobilization of eutectic mixtures in supramolecular gels formed using low molecular weight gelators is a smart strategy to expand their design space. Advances in the last five years are reviewed from the viewpoint of sustainability.

This work examines the process of using lignocellulosic biomass for cost-effective polyhydroxyalkanoate production, from pre-treatment to extraction.

A review on the selective catalytic hydrodeoxygenation of lignin biomass derived compounds. The focus is on recent reports which highlight achievements in selectively and reactivity trends which lead to deoxygenated aromatic products.

This review aims to assess the advances in protein extraction and separation from non-animal biomass using alternative solvents, namely ILs, and DESs. Also, the economic and environmental challenges of using such alternative solvents are discussed.

The growing development of technology has increased the amount of waste generated by electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) every year.

In the contemporary world, evolution of the scientific field has reached an elevation but has its own intricacies.

The current generation is looking for new materials and technology to reduce the dependency on fossil fuels, exploring sustainable energy sources to maintain the future energy demand and supply.

Cu nanoparticles decorated on CoO_x nanosheets are synthesized by an in situ reduction of bimetallic Cu-Co-MOF-74 which simultaneously catalyses efficient AB hydrolysis.

Platinum group metal nanoparticles (Pt, Pd, and Rh) were synthesized in aqueous NaCl solutions using, as reducing agent, H₂/CO electrogenerated in situ by the reduction of CO₂ and water.

By exposing more interfaces, utility of heterostructured electrodes in capacitance retention has been further expanded to devices with a large-scale 3D network. IGO@ZIF-8-NC was described as a symmetric supercapacitor device which paves the way forward for sustainable capacitive devices.

We propose an affordable and safe route to recover palladium in its metallic form from waste fashion items and recycle it in electronic devices.

Pt shows excellent catalytic activity towards the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), but suffers from deactivation due to the weak interaction with the carbon support and the oxidation of carbon.

Visible-light driven fumarate synthesis from pyruvate and gaseous CO₂ with a hybrid system of photocatalytic NADH regeneration and dual biocatalysts (malate dehydrogenase and fumarase) was developed.

Bis(pentafluorophenyl)borinic acid was investigated as a bench-stable Lewis acid catalyst for the hydrosilyation of carbonyl functionalities. The reactivity was benchmarked to other effective frustrated Lewis pair catalysts.

Environmental pollution due to dye industries is a major concern as it affects both aquatic and human life.

Phytic acid (PA) carbonization at 900 °C produces P-doped carbons with outstanding ORR electrocatalytic activity, highlighting the potential of PA-derived carbon materials in energy conversion.

An integrated process using Eucalyptus globulus essential oil as a bio-based solvent to extract triterpenic acids from hydrodistilled leaves is discussed.

The use of flow-through (FT) systems in the lignin-first approach can improve the proficiency of the process. Herein, the reductive catalytic fractionation of beech wood sawdust was conducted in an FT system using 35Ni/NDC pellets.

Using supercritical fluids, our novel process selectively extracts rare earth elements from coal fly ashes that were previously considered as waste and an environmental threat.

Furan based building blocks have potential of introducing new commodity chemicals at low cost with low carbon impact.

Testing composite carbon-based anode materials for high-perfoming soil microbial fuel cells.

Aluminates have been used as synthetic inorganic pigments due to their structural stability.

A metal complex bearing 1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane and terpyridine scaffolds as a single polydentate ligand was used as a recyclable catalyst for synthesizing the nylon precursor, KA oil.

Antibacterial resistance is a massive universal health crisis and one of the most significant threats to human life. Many bacterial species have evolved and acquired resistance against multiple drugs.

The phosphate-addition induced improvement of the synthesis yield of fumarate from CO₂ and pyruvate in an aqueous medium using a multi-biocatalytic system of ME from Sulfobus tokodaii and FUM from porcine heart in the presence of NADH was demonstrated.

The synergy of Ni-phytocat and microwave driven process leads to highly desirable monocyclic aromatics and low molecular weight hydrocarbons, and H₂, thereby paving the way to harness complete circular chemical potential of plastic waste.