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Chemistry
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Sustainable Chemistry for a Net Zero World
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Sustainable Chemistry for a Net Zero World

A special issue of Chemistry (ISSN 2624-8549). This special issue belongs to the section "Green and Environmental Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2026 | Viewed by 867

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Darren Oatley-Radcliffe

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Engineering, Swansea University, Swansea SA18EN, UK
Interests: reactor design; separation processes; technology transfer; scale-up; algae produc-tion and downstream processing; membranes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

From the advent of the industrial revolution, human activity has significantly affected the environment and is leading to significant climate change. This fact was recognized under the UN Paris agreement (COP21, 2015), which legally binds countries to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to limit global warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. Carbon capture for storage applications or for utilization and reuse is a current and immense research area. This Special Issue aims to bring together a collection of exciting new approaches to remedy the problem that have potential for application across the spectrum of industry. We are looking for all novel chemical and biological technologies and approaches, but are particularly keen to receive high-quality papers related to high-TRL-level applications, i.e., those that have been or are close to being tried in industrial settings. We also welcome papers that detail techno-economic assessments and those that include some form of life cycle analysis assessment.

I am pleased to invite you to contribute to the Special Issue ‘Sustainable Chemistry for a Net Zero World’ in the journal Chemistry, for which I serve as Guest Editor. The aim is to bring together an exciting array of new technologies that are in the process of being developed in order to realize the net zero target. We would be delighted to receive your contribution in the form of a short communication, research paper, or potentially a review paper.

Prof. Dr. Darren Oatley-Radcliffe
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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. Chemistry 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 1800 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

  • carbon capture
  • adsorption
  • reuse
  • recycling
  • storage
  • techno-economic assessment
  • life cycle analysis
  • industrial de-ployment
  • climate mitigation
  • net zero emissions

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 4151 KB  
Article
Facile Synthesis of Bimetallic Ag–Fe@ZIF-8 for the Synergistic Adsorption Removal of Tetracycline from Aqueous Solutions
by Tan Ke, Rozaimy Abdul Rahim, Noor Hazfalinda Hamzah, Normah Awang and Atikah Mohd Nasir
Chemistry 2026, 8(5), 65; https://doi.org/10.3390/chemistry8050065 (registering DOI) - 14 May 2026
Viewed by 162
Abstract
The escalating threat of antibiotic resistance, driven by the persistence of tetracycline in aquatic ecosystems, necessitates the development of advanced remediation platforms with high structural efficiency. In this study, a bimetallic Ag-Fe co-doped ZIF-8 framework was strategically engineered to optimize pore accessibility and [...] Read more.
The escalating threat of antibiotic resistance, driven by the persistence of tetracycline in aquatic ecosystems, necessitates the development of advanced remediation platforms with high structural efficiency. In this study, a bimetallic Ag-Fe co-doped ZIF-8 framework was strategically engineered to optimize pore accessibility and surface chemical affinity. The resulting nanocomposite exhibited an ultra-high BET surface area of 1322.64 m2/g and a pore volume of 0.502 cm3/g, while maintaining the characteristic structural integrity of the parent ZIF-8. Adsorption benchmarks demonstrated a superior maximum capacity of 417.97 mg/g at pH 8 under ambient conditions. The sequestration process was found to be governed by pseudo-second-order kinetics, while the Freundlich and intraparticle diffusion models accurately described a multilayer adsorption mechanism occurring across heterogeneous active sites. Furthermore, the Ag-Fe-ZIF-8 maintained its structural stability and performance over three consecutive cycles. These findings highlight the potential of bimetallic ZIF-8 derivatives as robust, high-surface-area platforms for the sustainable removal of pharmaceutical pollutants from wastewater, with an adsorption capacity as high as 417.97 mg/g after 3 h. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Chemistry for a Net Zero World)
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21 pages, 1588 KB  
Article
Commercial-Scale Demonstration of Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) from a Nickel Refinery Off-Gas Using Microalgae in a Closed Vertical Tube Photobioreactor
by Emily Preedy, Darren L. Oatley-Radcliffe, José Gayo Pelaez, Gahtan S. M. Algahtani, Jack H. Wade and Andrew R. Barron
Chemistry 2026, 8(5), 57; https://doi.org/10.3390/chemistry8050057 - 28 Apr 2026
Viewed by 410
Abstract
Despite the extensive literature on microalgal production, most studies focus on controlled laboratory-scale systems, resulting in a critical lack of confidence at industrial scale. This is further compounded by the frequently observed inconsistencies, with only modest increases achieved in operational scale. This work [...] Read more.
Despite the extensive literature on microalgal production, most studies focus on controlled laboratory-scale systems, resulting in a critical lack of confidence at industrial scale. This is further compounded by the frequently observed inconsistencies, with only modest increases achieved in operational scale. This work demonstrates the design, construction, and operation of a commercial-scale tubular photobioreactor and associated equipment for the production of algae using CO2 derived from an industrial nickel refinery. The reactor was demonstrated by growing the species Nannochloropsis gaditana. Biomass concentrations of 1.0 to 1.3 g L−1 were achieved with a productivity of 0.11 g L−1 d−1. Extrapolation to a 300-day production year showed that the reactor was capable of producing 541.2 kg algae and sequestering around 1 tonne of CO2. A technoeconomic assessment showed that the total plant CAPEX was £583,905 and the OPEX was £98,196. Sales of algae alone showed poor economic performance. However, economic favourability is observed for species that contain phycocyanin pigment and yield a positive net present value within 4 to 7 years based on recovery yield. This work effectively provides reliable process data developed at scale that can be used to formulate business cases for further scale-up and expansion of algal production systems. This moves the technology a step closer to full-scale realisation and the potential for a net-zero, sustainable future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Chemistry for a Net Zero World)
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