Sustainable Pathways in Chemical Process Engineering: Innovations, Optimization and Circular Strategies

A special issue of Processes (ISSN 2227-9717). This special issue belongs to the section "Chemical Processes and Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2026 | Viewed by 470

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, University Jorge Tadeo Lozano, Bogotá, Colombia
Interests: circular economy; waste valorization; green chemistry and catalysis; chemical thermodynamics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor Assistant
Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, National University of Colombia, Bogota 111321, Colombia
Interests: bioproducts; bioprocess; circular economy; waste valorization; functional activities

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainability in chemical processes is a crucial challenge that requires innovative solutions to minimize environmental impact, enhance resource efficiency, and promote circular economy principles. As industries strive to meet increasingly stringent regulations and societal demands for greener production methods, process engineers play a fundamental role in designing, optimizing, and implementing sustainable chemical processes.

This Special Issue on sustainable pathways in chemical process engineering seeks to highlight cutting-edge research that advances the sustainability of chemical production, including energy-efficient designs, green chemistry approaches, waste valorization, carbon capture and utilization, and life cycle optimization. Biofuels and bioproducts play a key role in the transition to sustainable energy and materials, requiring advances in feedstock processing and conversion technologies and integration with existing energy and chemical systems. By integrating modeling, simulation, and data-driven approaches, researchers can develop robust frameworks to assess and improve the environmental, economic, and social impacts of chemical processes.

Authors contributing to this Special Issue are encouraged to share computational models, simulation data, or process optimization frameworks in open access repositories to enhance reproducibility and collaboration within the scientific community.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Green process design: Innovations in solvent selection, catalysis, and reaction engineering for sustainable chemical production.
  • Biofuels and bioproducts: Process development for bioethanol, biodiesel, biohydrogen, and advanced biofuels.
  • Waste minimization and valorization: Novel approaches for resource recovery and circular economy strategies.
  • Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS): Process innovations for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Sustainable energy integration: Renewable energy applications in chemical and biofuel manufacturing.
  • Techno-economic and life cycle assessments: Quantitative evaluation of environmental and economic sustainability.
  • Process modeling and optimization: Simulation-based approaches for improving efficiency and sustainability.

We look forward to receiving your contributions and advancing the conversation on sustainable chemical and biofuel process engineering.

Prof. Dr. Andres F. Suárez
Guest Editor

Dr. Laura Rosa Conde-Rivera
Guest Editor Assistant

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. Processes is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 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.

Keywords

  • sustainable process engineering
  • biofuels and bioproducts
  • green chemistry and catalysis
  • circular economy and waste valorization
  • carbon capture and utilization (CCU)
  • life cycle assessment (LCA) and techno-economic analysis (TEA)
  • process modeling and optimization

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

20 pages, 5502 KB  
Article
Laser-Assisted Synthesis of Polymer-Coated Gold Nanoparticles for Studying Gamma Radiation Resistance
by Alejandra Y. Díaz-Ortíz, Eugenio Rodríguez González, Rodrigo Melendrez-Amavizca, Elisa A. Cázares-López, Edgar G. Zamorano-Noriega, Ramón Ochoa-Landín, Santos J. Castillo, María L. Mota and Ana B. López-Oyama
Processes 2026, 14(3), 454; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr14030454 - 28 Jan 2026
Abstract
This study focuses on fabrication and comprehensive characterization of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) stabilized with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and polyethylene glycol (PEG), correlating polymer degradation with colloidal stability and localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) behavior under controlled gamma doses from 5 to 125 Gy. AuNPs [...] Read more.
This study focuses on fabrication and comprehensive characterization of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) stabilized with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and polyethylene glycol (PEG), correlating polymer degradation with colloidal stability and localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) behavior under controlled gamma doses from 5 to 125 Gy. AuNPs were synthesized via laser-assisted synthesis (LAS) in aqueous medium containing PVP or PEG as a stabilizing and capping agent. Morphology, size distribution, and surface functionalization of the resulting AuNPs@polymer-stabilized were verified through UV-Vis spectroscopy, FTIR, XRD, DLS, zeta potential, and TEM. Results show that the polymer shell effectively preserved the nanoparticles’ integrity by minimizing aggregation and maintaining LSPR features even after exposure to high gamma doses (>75 Gy). PVP demonstrated superior protection compared to PEG, due to the robustness of the solvation layer and carbonyl groups of PVP coating around the AuNPs. These findings highlight the potential of polymer-stabilized AuNPS for applications in radiation-rich environments, while demonstrating LAS as an environmentally friendly and efficient synthesis route. Full article
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

20 pages, 7893 KB  
Article
Mitigation of Cu-Induced Grain Boundary Sensitization in Steel Wire Rods Through a Desensitization Heat Treatment
by Ruthvik Gandra, Pranav Acharya, Tetiana Shyrokykh, Charlotte Mayer, Sebastien Hollinger, Narayanan Neithalath and Seetharaman Sridhar
Processes 2026, 14(2), 195; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr14020195 - 6 Jan 2026
Viewed by 237
Abstract
Steel wire rods are essential for manufacturing high-strength steel tire cords. Yet, the presence of residual copper (Cu) in recycled steel can cause grain-boundary sensitization, embrittlement, and deterioration of the mechanical performance of the final product. This study introduces a desensitization heat treatment [...] Read more.
Steel wire rods are essential for manufacturing high-strength steel tire cords. Yet, the presence of residual copper (Cu) in recycled steel can cause grain-boundary sensitization, embrittlement, and deterioration of the mechanical performance of the final product. This study introduces a desensitization heat treatment step designed to redistribute Cu away from austenite grain boundaries after sensitization occurs. The treatment consists of a 10 min dwell at 1000 °C in a 5%H2-Ar reducing atmosphere followed by quench. The temperature and hold time were selected based on diffusion calculations to promote solid-state back diffusion of Cu without altering grain morphology. Experimental validation showed that the dwell step reduced the length of Cu-rich sensitized zones of steel wire rod samples containing 0.21 wt.% Cu by approximately 89% and restored the mechanical properties to nearly 95–98% relative to low-Cu baseline steel (0.01 wt.% Cu). Compared with sensitized and as-obtained samples, these results highlight the effectiveness of the proposed method in improving both the microstructure and tensile performance of recycled steel wire rods, enabling their potential application in tire manufacturing. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop