Previous Article in Journal
Extending Hexagon-Based Metal–Organic Frameworks—Mn(II) and Gd(III) MOFs with Hexakis(4-(4-Carboxyphenyl)phenyl)benzene
 
 
Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
Journals
Inorganics
Volume 14
Issue 1
10.3390/inorganics14010013
inorganics-logo
Submit to this Journal Review for this Journal Propose a Special Issue
► Article Menu

Article Menu

share Share announcement Help format_quote Cite
first_page
settings
Order Article Reprints
Font Type:
Arial Georgia Verdana
Font Size:
Aa Aa Aa
Line Spacing:
Column Width:
Background:
This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.
Article

Egg White Assisted Synthesis of Fe-Mn Spinel Oxides: Effects of Egg White Ratio, Oxygen Partial Pressure, and Life Cycle Impacts

by
Ann-Katrin Emmerich
1,
Vanessa Zeller
2,
Xingmin Liu
3,
Anke Weidenkaff
1 and
Marc Widenmeyer
1,*
1
Materials and Resources, Institute of Materials Science, Technical University of Darmstadt, 64287 Darmstadt, Hessia, Germany
2
Material Flow Management and Resource Economy, Institute of IWAR, Technical University of Darmstadt, 64287 Darmstadt, Hessia, Germany
3
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Veneto, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Inorganics 2026, 14(1), 13; https://doi.org/10.3390/inorganics14010013 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 4 December 2025 / Revised: 23 December 2025 / Accepted: 25 December 2025 / Published: 27 December 2025
(This article belongs to the Section Inorganic Materials)
Versions Notes

Abstract

Egg white was chosen as a renewable, non-toxic agent for the synthesis of FeMn2O4 spinel pre-catalysts to avoid the use of critical transition metals such as Ni and Co. However, synthesizing phase-pure FeMn2O4 remains challenging due to (i) the requirement of low oxygen partial pressures to counter rapid reoxidation of Mn3O4 in the presence of iron oxides, which can be achieved by the preferred oxidation of the egg white during the calcination, and (ii) the probable formation of Fe3O4 and Mn3O4 during intermediate steps in the reaction, leading to multiphase spinel formation caused by a miscibility gap between the spinels. In contrast, spinels with Ni, Co, Zn, or Al are phase-pure. Egg white has significant environmental impacts in the synthesis of all spinel manganites, as assessed from a life-cycle perspective, which can exceed those of petroleum-based agents such as ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) in most impact categories. Therefore, our results show that the investigated synthesis route is not more sustainable, and we demonstrate that implementing quantitative evaluation of environmental impacts already at an early stage is essential to determine whether a synthesis is truly sustainable.
Keywords: egg white-based synthesis; FeMn2O4 spinel; egg white ratio; phase separation; oxygen partial pressure; life cycle assessment egg white-based synthesis; FeMn2O4 spinel; egg white ratio; phase separation; oxygen partial pressure; life cycle assessment

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Emmerich, A.-K.; Zeller, V.; Liu, X.; Weidenkaff, A.; Widenmeyer, M. Egg White Assisted Synthesis of Fe-Mn Spinel Oxides: Effects of Egg White Ratio, Oxygen Partial Pressure, and Life Cycle Impacts. Inorganics 2026, 14, 13. https://doi.org/10.3390/inorganics14010013

AMA Style

Emmerich A-K, Zeller V, Liu X, Weidenkaff A, Widenmeyer M. Egg White Assisted Synthesis of Fe-Mn Spinel Oxides: Effects of Egg White Ratio, Oxygen Partial Pressure, and Life Cycle Impacts. Inorganics. 2026; 14(1):13. https://doi.org/10.3390/inorganics14010013

Chicago/Turabian Style

Emmerich, Ann-Katrin, Vanessa Zeller, Xingmin Liu, Anke Weidenkaff, and Marc Widenmeyer. 2026. "Egg White Assisted Synthesis of Fe-Mn Spinel Oxides: Effects of Egg White Ratio, Oxygen Partial Pressure, and Life Cycle Impacts" Inorganics 14, no. 1: 13. https://doi.org/10.3390/inorganics14010013

APA Style

Emmerich, A.-K., Zeller, V., Liu, X., Weidenkaff, A., & Widenmeyer, M. (2026). Egg White Assisted Synthesis of Fe-Mn Spinel Oxides: Effects of Egg White Ratio, Oxygen Partial Pressure, and Life Cycle Impacts. Inorganics, 14(1), 13. https://doi.org/10.3390/inorganics14010013

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Metrics

Article metric data becomes available approximately 24 hours after publication online.
Back to TopTop