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Catalysts
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Waste-to-Resources Through Catalysis in Green and Sustainable Way
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Waste-to-Resources Through Catalysis in Green and Sustainable Way

A special issue of Catalysts (ISSN 2073-4344). This special issue belongs to the section "Biomass Catalysis".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2025 | Viewed by 1337

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Yu-Cai He

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Pharmacy & School of Biological and Food Engineering, Changzhou University, Changzhou 213164, China
Interests: biocatalysis; bioenergy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The growth of the global population and progressive economic development is inducing a great increase in the amount of solid waste, including municipal, agricultural, industrial, food, and special wastes and, in turn, creating issues of rising costs and environmental pollution. Recently, the valorization of waste to manufacture fuel and/or chemicals has begun to gain greater attention. A series of catalytic technologies have been developed for application in the green and sustainable manufacturing of value-added bioresources. This Special Issue of Catalysts aims to cover new research and trends in the development and application of novel catalytic processes with chemical and/or biological catalysts for producing value-added chemicals and biofuels from municipal, agricultural, industrial, food, and special wastes via green and sustainable approaches. The editors welcome contributions of high-quality research papers, reviews, and short communications focusing on this topic. This topic encompasses, but is not limited to, the following:

Development of novel homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts for waste valorization;
Development of chemocatalysis and/or biocatalysis for waste valorization in a benign catalytic system;
New technologies to generate fuel molecules and (bio)chemicals from typical and special wastes;
Case studies addressing the catalysis of specific wastes (plastics, biomass, food residue, healthcare, medical, etc.).

Prof. Dr. Yu-Cai He
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Catalysts is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 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.

Keywords

  • solid waste catalytic conversion
  • biofuel production
  • development of homogeneous/heterogeneous catalysts
  • chemo-bio synergistic catalysis
  • synthesis of value-added chemicals
  • sustainable manufacturing technologies
  • targeted depolymerization of plastics/biomass
  • environmentally benign catalytic systems

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 6513 KiB  
Article
Sustainable MgO Nanocatalyst Additives for Boosting Performance and Mitigating Emissions of Used Cooking Oil Biodiesel–Diesel Blends in Compression Ignition Engines
by Kiran Chaudhari, Nilesh Salunke, Shakeelur Raheman Ateequr Raheman, Khursheed B. Ansari, Kapil Ashokrao Saner, Vijay Kashinath Suryawanshi and Mumtaj Shah
Catalysts 2025, 15(5), 489; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal15050489 - 17 May 2025
Viewed by 382
Abstract
With conventional fuels dwindling and emissions rising, there is a necessity to develop and assess innovative substitute fuel for compression ignition (CI) engines. This study investigates the potential of magnesium oxide (MgO) nanoparticles as a sustainable additive to enhance the performance and reduce [...] Read more.
With conventional fuels dwindling and emissions rising, there is a necessity to develop and assess innovative substitute fuel for compression ignition (CI) engines. This study investigates the potential of magnesium oxide (MgO) nanoparticles as a sustainable additive to enhance the performance and reduce emissions of used cooking oil (UCO) biodiesel–diesel blends in CI engines. MgO nanoparticles were biosynthesized using Citrus aurantium peel extract, offering an environmentally friendly production method. A single-cylinder CI engine was used to test the performance of diesel fuel (B0), a 20% biodiesel blend (B20), and B20 blends with 30 ppm (B20M30) and 60 ppm (B20M60) MgO nanoparticles. Engine performance parameters (brake thermal efficiency (BTE), brake-specific fuel consumption (BSFC), and exhaust gas temperature (EGT)) and emission characteristics (CO, NOx, unburnt hydrocarbons (HCs), and smoke opacity) were measured. The B20M60 blend showed a 2.38% reduction in BSFC and a 3.38% increase in BTE compared to B20, with significant reductions in unburnt HC, CO, and smoke opacity. However, NOx emissions increased by 6.57%. The green synthesis method enhances sustainability, offering a promising pathway for cleaner and more efficient CI engine operation using UCO biodiesel, demonstrating the effectiveness of MgO nanoparticles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Waste-to-Resources Through Catalysis in Green and Sustainable Way)
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13 pages, 1383 KiB  
Article
The Study of Regioselective Acylation of Geniposide by Using Whole-Cell Biocatalysts in Organic Solvents
by Rongling Yang, Ziling Huang, Xiangjie Zhao, Hongzhen Luo, Yuli Tong, Xiaoyan Li, Chun Zhu, Yu Wang and Yang Sun
Catalysts 2025, 15(5), 428; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal15050428 - 28 Apr 2025
Viewed by 338
Abstract
Geniposide, the predominant bioactive constituent identified in the traditional Chinese medicine herb Gardenia jasminoides, demonstrates clinically significant pharmacological properties. However, the clinical application of geniposide is significantly limited by its insufficient lipophilicity and consequent compromised oral bioavailability. To enhance the lipophilicity and [...] Read more.
Geniposide, the predominant bioactive constituent identified in the traditional Chinese medicine herb Gardenia jasminoides, demonstrates clinically significant pharmacological properties. However, the clinical application of geniposide is significantly limited by its insufficient lipophilicity and consequent compromised oral bioavailability. To enhance the lipophilicity and bioavailability of geniposide, a novel whole-cell-mediated catalytic approach was developed for the first time. Aspergillus oryzae whole cells exhibited the highest catalytic activity among microbial strains screened for geniposide decanoylation in the organic solvents. The optimal reaction conditions were identified as follows: acetonitrile served as the reaction solvent, with a substrate molar ratio of 15:1, a whole-cell dosage of 20 mg/mL, and the reaction temperature maintained at 50 °C. Under these optimized conditions, the initial reaction rate was 6.1 mmol/L·h, the conversion reached 99%, and the regioselectivity exceeded 99%. In addition, nine geniposide esters were successfully synthesized, exhibiting outstanding conversion efficiency and high regioselectivities. The pronounced regioselectivity exhibited by Aspergillus oryzae cells toward the 6′-hydroxy group of the glycoside ring in geniposide can be attributed to the lower steric hindrance at this position relative to other hydroxyl moieties, which may enter into the enzyme’s active site more easily to attack the acyl-enzyme intermediate. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Waste-to-Resources Through Catalysis in Green and Sustainable Way)
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16 pages, 8102 KiB  
Article
Co-Production of Furfural, Xylo-Oligosaccharides, and Reducing Sugars from Waste Yellow Bamboo Through the Solid Acid-Assisted Hydrothermal Pretreatment
by Dan Yang, Qizhen Yang, Ruiqing Yang, Yifeng Zhou and Yucai He
Catalysts 2025, 15(4), 325; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal15040325 - 28 Mar 2025
Viewed by 437
Abstract
Lignocellulosic waste biomass, a versatile natural resource derived from plants, has gained significant attention for its potential in the sustainable production of biobased chemicals. Furfural (FAL), xylo-oligosaccharides (XOSs), and reducing sugars are important platform chemicals, which can be obtained through the valorization of [...] Read more.
Lignocellulosic waste biomass, a versatile natural resource derived from plants, has gained significant attention for its potential in the sustainable production of biobased chemicals. Furfural (FAL), xylo-oligosaccharides (XOSs), and reducing sugars are important platform chemicals, which can be obtained through the valorization of lignocellulosic solid biomass in a green and sustainable way. Waste yellow bamboo (YB) is one kind of abundant, inexpensive, and renewable lignocellulosic biomass resource. In order to improve the high-value utilization rate of raw YB, biochar-based solid acid catalyst (AT-Sn-YB) was utilized to assist the hydrothermal pretreatment for the valorization of YB in water. Under the optimal reaction conditions (200 °C, 60 min, and AT-Sn-YB dosage of 5.4 wt%), the FAL yield reached 60.8%, and 2.5 g/L of XOSs was obtained in the pretreatment system. It was observed that the surface structure of YB became rough and loose, exposing a significant number of pores. The accessibility increased from 101.8 mg/g to 352.6 mg/g after combined treatment. The surface area and hydrophobicity of lignin were 70.7 m2/g and 2.5 L/g, respectively, which were significantly lower than those of untreated YB (195.4 m2/g and 4.1 L/g, respectively). The YB solid residues obtained after treatment were subjected to enzymatic saccharification, achieving an enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency of 47.9%. Therefore, the hydrothermal pretreatment assisted by the AT-Sn-YB catalyst shows potential application value in FAL production and bamboo utilization, providing important references for other biomass materials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Waste-to-Resources Through Catalysis in Green and Sustainable Way)
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