The importance of elemental sustainability and critical element recovery
Editorial article to accompany the Green Chemistry themed issue “Elemental Recovery and Sustainability”.
Perspective
Greening the global phosphorus cycle: how green chemistry can help achieve planetary P sustainability
Opportunities for green chemistry in the P cycle.
Organofluorine chemistry: applications, sources and sustainability
Fluorine is an essential element for life in the developed world that impacts hugely on the general public because many pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, anaesthetics, materials and air conditioning materials owe their important properties to the presence of fluorine atoms within their structures.
Tutorial Review
Aqueous alteration of potassium-bearing aluminosilicate minerals: from mechanism to processing
Potassium-bearing framework aluminosilicates are earth-abundant and globally available raw materials that are potential sources of potassium or aluminium. The physical chemistry of aqueous alteration of the corresponding minerals is discussed in this work, in the framework of green chemistry and engineering.
Transition-metal-functionalized ordered mesoporous silicas: an overview of sustainable chiral catalysts for enantioselective transformations
This review focuses on the development of ordered mesoporous silica-supported chiral transition-metal-based catalysts for enantioselective transformations.
Critical Review
Non-heme iron catalysts for epoxidation and aziridination reactions of challenging terminal alkenes: towards sustainability
This review presents non-heme iron catalyzed epoxidations and aziridinations of terminal alkenes with respect to atom economy and sustainability.
Critical Review
Reclamation of reactive metal oxides from complex minerals using alkali roasting and leaching – an improved approach to process engineering
This review highlights the alkali roasting of aluminium, chromium and titanium minerals as an alternative to mitigate the environmental pressure associated with their mineral processing.
Separation/recycling methods for homogeneous transition metal catalysts in continuous flow
An overview on the separation/recycling methods for homogeneous transition metal catalysts in continuous flow on the lab- and industrial scale is provided.
Magnetic nanohydrometallurgy: a nanotechnological approach to elemental sustainability
Magnetic nanohydrometallurgy of copper.
Bio-derived materials as a green route for precious & critical metal recovery and re-use
Overview of research in critical and precious metal recovery using biosorption, application to real-life wastes and uses of the metal-loaded materials.
From iridium and platinum to copper and carbon: new avenues for more sustainability in organic light-emitting diodes
In this article, we analyse materials and techniques used in OLED manufacturing in terms of sustainability and highlight upcoming trends which are supposed to further enhance this technologies sustainability.
Sustainable metal-based catalysts for the synthesis of cyclic carbonates containing five-membered rings
The synthesis of cyclic carbonates from epoxides and carbon dioxide using sustainable metal-based catalysts is critically reviewed.
Starch-derived carbonaceous mesoporous materials (Starbon®) for the selective adsorption and recovery of critical metals
The formation, characterization and application of starch-derived carbonaceous mesoporous materials (Starbon®) for the selective adsorption and recovery of critical metals (Au3+, Pt2+ and Pd2+) has been described.
Cleavage of C–N bonds in carbon fiber/epoxy resin composites
ZnCl2 enables the effective recovery of carbon fiber and epoxy resin from their waste composites by cleaving C–N bonds.
One-pot highly diastereoselective annulation to N-unprotected tetrasubstituted 2-pyrrolines
An effective one-pot sequential Michael addition/deprotection/cyclization/tautomerization approach to N-unprotected fully substituted trans-2-pyrrolines has been developed.
Recyclable hydrotalcite catalysts for alcohol imination via acceptorless dehydrogenation
Intrinsic catalytic activity of a series of hydrotalcite-like materials towards acceptorless alcohol dehydrogenation and one-pot imination.
Paper
Recycling of rare earths from NdFeB magnets using a combined leaching/extraction system based on the acidity and thermomorphism of the ionic liquid [Hbet][Tf2N]
A new recycling process was developed to recover rare earths from roasted NdFeB magnets using the thermomorphic and acidic properties of the ionic liquid [Hbet][Tf2N] to achieve a combined leaching/extraction system.
Pd-catalyzed decarboxylation of glutamic acid and pyroglutamic acid to bio-based 2-pyrrolidone
A palladium based catalytic system was developed to decarboxylate glutamic acid and pyroglutamic acid to bio-based 2-pyrrolidone in aqueous media at 250 °C and under an inert atmosphere.
Industrial applications of molecular recognition technology to separations of platinum group metals and selective removal of metal impurities from process streams
Selective precious and specialty metal separations and recovery using molecular recognition processes are described for commercial mining and recycling operations.
Thermodynamic optimization of the Dy–Nd–Fe–B system and application in the recovery and recycling of rare earth metals from NdFeB magnet
The developed thermodynamic database for the Dy–Nd–Fe–B–Mg system enables the calculation of complex phase diagrams for the selective recovery of Nd and Dy from NdFeB magnet scrap using the liquid metal extraction process.
Chiral ureas and thioureas supported on polystyrene for enantioselective aza-Henry reactions under solvent-free conditions
Chiral recoverable supported bifunctional ureas or thioureas promote highly enantioselective aza-Henry reactions under solvent-free conditions.
Phytoextracted mining wastes for ecocatalysis: Eco-Mn®, an efficient and eco-friendly plant-based catalyst for reductive amination of ketones
Recycling of plant wastes derived from phytoextraction constituted the raw material for efficient and eco-friendly manganese catalyzed aminoreduction.
Direct synthesis of Pd nanoparticles on alginic acid and seaweed supports
The synthesis of Pd catalysts using biosorption onto alginic acid and seaweed supports for application as catalysts in coupling reactions.
Limitations to elemental substitution as exemplified by the platinum-group metals
A combination of factors suggests that PGM substitution is limited, and further efforts are needed to decrease our reliance on them.
Paper
Chameleon behaviour of iodine in recovering noble-metals from WEEE: towards sustainability and “zero” waste
The peculiar properties of iodine and safe lixiviants for sustainable and effective noble-metal recovery from shredded WEEE.
Photochemical recycling of europium from Eu/Y mixtures in red lamp phosphor waste streams
A highly efficient and selective separation technique to remove europium from Eu/Y mixtures, in order to recycle europium from red lamp phosphors.
Electrocatalytic recovery of elements from complex mixtures using deep eutectic solvents
The use of iodine as an electrocatalyst in metal dissolution and recovery is demonstrated with three types of substrate; brass, GaAs and a gold ore.
Plasma-enabled sustainable elemental lifecycles: honeycomb-derived graphenes for next-generation biosensors and supercapacitors
Vertical graphene nanosheets (VGS) transformed from honeycomb are used for high-performance supercapacitors and selective detection of amyloid-beta (Aβ) species.
About this collection
Elemental sustainability is a concept in which each element within the periodic table is guaranteed for use by both current and future generations. The long term security of elemental supply has become an important issue at local (industrial), national and continental levels. Elements are not “running out”, but rather are being dispersed throughout the technosphere, making recapture both highly problematic and often costly. These challenges must be tackled through the development of multidisciplinary partnerships, which adopt sustainable holistic approaches, consistent with recovery and reuse.
This themed issue of Green Chemistry will tackle the issues of elemental sustainability and criticality of resources head on, containing both original research papers and review articles. The guest editors for this themed collection are James Clark (University of York, UK), Andrew Hunt (University of York, UK), Avtar Matharu (University of York, UK) and Alex King (Ames Labs, USA).