Green Chemistry and Application of Biorefineries

Dear Colleagues,

As the global population continues to grow, the demand for food, water, energy and other resources is expected to rise, leading to an increased generation of vast amounts of lignocellulosic and agri-food by-products. These by-products are often referred to as "waste" when the processes of circular economy practices are not implemented. Recovering valuable metabolites or transforming these materials into useful compounds or products in a sustainable manner has now become a necessity. Our society faces pressing challenges, including resource scarcity, environmental pollution, and climate change. The adoption of circular economy approaches enable sustainable energy solutions, maximizes the extraction of high-value compounds from industrial raw materials, and reduces overall resource consumption. In particular, lignocellulosic biomass and other agri-food by-products serve as valuable raw materials for developing green chemistry products and processes. These include bio-based chemicals and compounds such as antioxidants, vitamins, antimicrobials, biostimulants for agriculture, reducing agents for metal nanoparticle production, catalytic agents for biopolymer processing, structural and adsorptive materials, as well as sources of sugars, and other macro- and micronutrient applications. Such bioprocesses, involving fungi, bacteria, yeasts, and microalgae, contribute to the development of high-value industrial compounds within an integrated biorefinery framework.

We are pleased to invite you to submit your research and contribute to this Special Issue on Green Chemistry and Application of Biorefineries, which aims to explore both practical and theoretical aspects of utilizing lignocellulosic and agri-food by-products, often mistakenly classified as waste, to generate valuable industrial green chemistry products. The focus is on mitigating waste generation, optimizing resource utilization, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, all while integrating these processes into biorefinery concepts. 

We welcome innovative approaches that fully utilize lignocellulosic and agri-food by-products within circular economy strategies. Contributions may explore their integration into existing biorefineries or propose new theoretical biorefinery concepts tailored for filamentous fungi, yeasts, bacteria, and microalgae-based bioprocesses. Additionally, this Special Issue targets biomass derived from green chemistry and biological processes, aiming to develop technologies for the complete utilization and cyclical valorization of by-products as inputs or target compounds. We invite original research articles and reviews in (but not limited to) the following areas: 

1. Utilization of lignocellulosic and agri-food biomass for extracting high-added value compounds;
2. Application of extracted compounds in green chemistry;
3. Novel methods and approaches for lignocellulosic and agri-food biomass processing;
4. Solid-state and submerged fermentation for industrial metabolite and biomass production;
5. Microalgae-based processes for valorizing lignocellulosic and agri-food by-products;
6. Development of adsorptive and structural materials from biomass;
7. Green catalysis using lignocellulosic and agri-food biomass;
8. Integration of industrial wastewater into biomass valorization for green chemistry applications;
9. New biorefinery concepts for the cyclical and full valorization of by-products, from input materials to final products;
10. Lignocellulosic-based polymers and waste minimization.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Igor Sampaio
Prof. Dr. Simone Morais
Guest Editors

Dr. Karla González-Gloria
Guest Editor Assistant

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• agri-food by-products
• circular economy
• bioprocessing
• fermentation
• microalgae cultivation
• bio-based materials
• sustainable processes