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Sustainable Chemistry
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Innovations in Energy Engineering and Cleaner Production: A Sustainable Chemistry...
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Innovations in Energy Engineering and Cleaner Production: A Sustainable Chemistry Perspective

A special issue of Sustainable Chemistry (ISSN 2673-4079).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2025 | Viewed by 23158

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Francesca Deganello

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Nanostructured Materials (ISMN), Italian National Research Council (CNR), Palermo, Italy
Interests: nanomaterials for energy and environment; perovskite oxides; perovskite-based heterostructures; solid oxide cells; Rietveld analysis; waste-derived materials; sustainable chemistry education
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Jan-Willem Bos

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY169ST, UK
Interests: thermoelectric energy conversion; high-temperature superconductors; electrocatalysts for water splitting; energy materials and sustainability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Chemists have a huge responsibility in the transition toward sustainable development that balances the environment, society, and economy. New strategies for the production of materials and renewable energy need to be found that have environmental protection and remediation at their core. This is one of the defining challenges of the 21st century, and it is clear that impactful results can only be reached through collaboration between scientific, engineering, and non-scientific disciplines, with each discipline contributing its own point of view.

This Special Issue is focused on sustainable chemistry innovations in energy engineering and cleaner material production. We welcome contributions from scholars who want to share their results on the chemical aspects of sustainable material production and energy engineering. Thus, “materials for sustainable energy” is the main topic, although this Special Issue is more broadly focused on the production of clean materials. Energy efficiency of production is also a topic as well as other important issues, such as reducing environmental impacts and facilitating easier end-of-life recycling. The goal of this Special Issue is to showcase and help define the wide variety of contributions that sustainable chemistry can make to energy engineering and clean material production. This includes not only small-scale lab research work but also scale-up and technology transfer and embedding in industry.

Dr. Francesca Deganello
Prof. Dr. Jan-Willem Bos 
Guest Editors

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. Sustainable Chemistry is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly 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 1000 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

  • cleaner production
  • chemistry for sustainable development
  • low carbon
  • industrial ecology: a chemical point of view
  • recycling and elimination
  • improved material
  • energy use and consumption
  • environmental sustainability
  • climate change: the chemistry challenge
  • chemistry and global warming
  • ecology and ecosystems: a chemistry perspective
  • emerging pollutants
  • environmental impact
  • removal of pollutants
  • sustainable materials synthesis

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

Published Papers (10 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research, Review, Other

4 pages, 483 KiB  
Editorial
Paving the Way for the Clean and Feasible Production of 2,5-Dimethylfuran
by Marco Russo and Maria Luisa Testa
Sustain. Chem. 2024, 5(4), 330-333; https://doi.org/10.3390/suschem5040024 - 23 Dec 2024
Viewed by 681
Abstract
Biofuels have long been firmly established in the energy landscape in order to meet a considerable portion of the world’s energy demand and to contribute to the reduction in CO2 emissions [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Energy Engineering and Cleaner Production: A Sustainable Chemistry Perspective)
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3 pages, 456 KiB  
Editorial
Towards Perovskite Oxide-Based Electrocatalysts with Zero-Critical Elements for Sustainable Energy Production
by Chiara Aliotta and Francesca Deganello
Sustain. Chem. 2024, 5(4), 327-329; https://doi.org/10.3390/suschem5040023 - 21 Dec 2024
Viewed by 577
Abstract
The well-being of the Earth and its inhabitants is compromised by the energy and climate crisis that has arisen from the prolonged and uncontrolled utilization of fossil fuels, which has caused a tremendous increase in anthropogenic CO2 and a consistent depletion of [...] Read more.
The well-being of the Earth and its inhabitants is compromised by the energy and climate crisis that has arisen from the prolonged and uncontrolled utilization of fossil fuels, which has caused a tremendous increase in anthropogenic CO2 and a consistent depletion of natural energy resources [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Energy Engineering and Cleaner Production: A Sustainable Chemistry Perspective)
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2 pages, 184 KiB  
Editorial
Innovations in Energy Engineering and Cleaner Production: A Sustainable Chemistry Perspective
by Francesca Deganello and Jan-Willem G. Bos
Sustain. Chem. 2022, 3(1), 112-113; https://doi.org/10.3390/suschem3010008 - 3 Mar 2022
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2936
Abstract
This Special Issue is focused on the chemical aspects of sustainable energy engineering and the clean production of materials [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Energy Engineering and Cleaner Production: A Sustainable Chemistry Perspective)

Research

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16 pages, 3644 KiB  
Article
Clean Production of Sugars from Brewer’s Spent Grains Using Subcritical Water Hydrolysis and Steam Explosion
by Lucielle Ferreira Nunes, Gustavo Andrade Ugalde, Kéllen Francine Anschau, Edson Irineu Müller, Marcus Vinícius Tres, Giovani Leone Zabot and Raquel Cristine Kuhn
Sustain. Chem. 2024, 5(4), 308-323; https://doi.org/10.3390/suschem5040021 - 11 Dec 2024
Viewed by 1404
Abstract
Brewer’s spent grains (BSG) are a by-product of the beer industry and can be used to produce biofuels. In this case, the objective of this study was to obtain reducing sugars from this biomass by subcritical water hydrolysis in a semi-continuous mode after [...] Read more.
Brewer’s spent grains (BSG) are a by-product of the beer industry and can be used to produce biofuels. In this case, the objective of this study was to obtain reducing sugars from this biomass by subcritical water hydrolysis in a semi-continuous mode after steam explosion. Temperatures of 120–180 °C, reaction times of 1–5 min, and pressures of 15–25 MPa were used for the steam explosion without CO2. Moistures of 10–50% (w/v), temperatures of 120–180 °C, reaction times of 1–5 min, and pressures of 15–25 MPa were used for the steam explosion with CO2. Subcritical water hydrolysis of solid-exploded material was developed at 210 °C, 15 MPa, a solid/feed ratio of 16 g/g, and a flow rate of 20 mL/min. The characterization of BSG, reducing sugar yields, kinetic profiles, the composition of monosaccharides and furanic moieties, and the characterization of remaining solid by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were performed. For steam explosion with CO2, the significant variables were the temperature and moisture, and the optimized conditions were moisture of 50% (w/v), 120 °C, pretreatment for 1 min, and 15 MPa, with a reducing sugars yield of 18.41 ± 1.02 g/100 g BSG. For steam explosion without CO2, the significant variables were the time and temperature, and the optimized conditions were 120 °C, pretreatment for 1 min, and 15 MPa, with a reducing sugars yield of 17.05 ± 0.48 g/100 g BSG. The process was successful because the steam explosion ruptured the lignocellulosic matrix, and the subsequent process of subcritical water hydrolysis could dissociate the polymers into low-chain saccharides. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Energy Engineering and Cleaner Production: A Sustainable Chemistry Perspective)
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14 pages, 4083 KiB  
Article
Innovative Green Approach for Extraction of Piperine from Black Pepper Based on Response Surface Methodology
by Charles Lwamba, Saied A. Aboushanab, Ranga Rao Ambati and Elena G. Kovaleva
Sustain. Chem. 2023, 4(1), 40-53; https://doi.org/10.3390/suschem4010005 - 24 Jan 2023
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 6795
Abstract
Bioactive compounds like piperine (alkaloids) offer a variety of health benefits due to their biological and pharmacological potential. Piperine has been revealed to have anti-inflammatory, anti-aging, anti-diabetes, anti-bacterial, anti-ulcer, and anti-carcinogenic characteristics. Recent research has been conducted to extract piperine using effective and [...] Read more.
Bioactive compounds like piperine (alkaloids) offer a variety of health benefits due to their biological and pharmacological potential. Piperine has been revealed to have anti-inflammatory, anti-aging, anti-diabetes, anti-bacterial, anti-ulcer, and anti-carcinogenic characteristics. Recent research has been conducted to extract piperine using effective and environmentally friendly techniques. In this study, we sought to assess the potential and efficacy of natural deep eutectic solvents to extract piperine from black pepper seeds using an ultrasound-assisted extraction technique. A Box–Behnken design combined with response surface methodology was used to evaluate the optimum extraction conditions of piperine. Extraction efficiency was evaluated based on the extraction yields of piperine, antioxidant activity, total polyphenols, and total flavonoids. The results showed that the choline chloride-citric acid-1,2-propylene glycol combination (1:2:2 molar ratio) with 25% (v/v) of water was the most effective at extracting piperine from black pepper. It was found that the extraction yield of piperine was significantly influenced by the liquid–solid ratio and extraction time. The optimal extraction conditions were determined and it was found that antioxidant activities and total polyphenol content in the piperine-rich extracts were remarkably related to the piperine content. The piperine extract purity was found to be 90%. Our results indicate that black pepper could be used as a functional food application. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Energy Engineering and Cleaner Production: A Sustainable Chemistry Perspective)
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Review

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36 pages, 971 KiB  
Review
Physical Pretreatments of Lignocellulosic Biomass for Fermentable Sugar Production
by Damázio Borba Sant’Ana Júnior, Maikon Kelbert, Pedro Henrique Hermes de Araújo and Cristiano José de Andrade
Sustain. Chem. 2025, 6(2), 13; https://doi.org/10.3390/suschem6020013 - 14 Apr 2025
Viewed by 622
Abstract
Physical pretreatments play a crucial role in reducing the recalcitrance of lignocellulosic biomass, facilitating its conversion into fermentable sugars for bioenergy and chemical applications. This study critically reviews physical pretreatment approaches, including mechanical comminution, irradiation (ultrasound, microwave, gamma rays, and electron beam), extrusion, [...] Read more.
Physical pretreatments play a crucial role in reducing the recalcitrance of lignocellulosic biomass, facilitating its conversion into fermentable sugars for bioenergy and chemical applications. This study critically reviews physical pretreatment approaches, including mechanical comminution, irradiation (ultrasound, microwave, gamma rays, and electron beam), extrusion, and pulsed electric field. The discussion covers the mechanisms of action, operational parameters, energy efficiency, scalability challenges, and associated costs. Methods such as ultrasound and microwave induce structural changes that enhance enzymatic accessibility, while extrusion combines thermal and mechanical forces to optimize hydrolysis. Mechanical comminution is most effective during short periods and when combined with other techniques to overcome limitations such as high energy consumption. Innovative approaches, such as pulsed electric fields, show significant potential but face challenges in large-scale implementation. This study provides technical and strategic insights into developing more effective physical pretreatments aligned with economic feasibility and industrial sustainability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Energy Engineering and Cleaner Production: A Sustainable Chemistry Perspective)
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24 pages, 4044 KiB  
Review
High-Temperature Stability of LiFePO4/Carbon Lithium-Ion Batteries: Challenges and Strategies
by Guangyao Jin, Wanwei Zhao, Jianing Zhang, Wenyu Liang, Mingyang Chen and Rui Xu
Sustain. Chem. 2025, 6(1), 7; https://doi.org/10.3390/suschem6010007 - 27 Feb 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1626
Abstract
Lithium-ion batteries that use lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) as the cathode material and carbon (graphite or MCMB) as the anode have gained significant attention due to their cost-effectiveness, low environmental impact, and strong safety profile. These advantages make them suitable for [...] Read more.
Lithium-ion batteries that use lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) as the cathode material and carbon (graphite or MCMB) as the anode have gained significant attention due to their cost-effectiveness, low environmental impact, and strong safety profile. These advantages make them suitable for a wide range of applications including electric vehicles, stationary energy storage, and backup power systems. However, their adoption is hindered by a critical challenge: capacity degradation at elevated temperatures. This review systematically summarizes the corresponding modification strategies including surface modification of the anode and cathode as well as modification of the electrolyte, separator, binder, and collector. We further discuss the control of the charge state, early warning prevention, control of thermal runaway, and the rational application of ML and DFT to enhance the LFP/C high temperature cycling stability. Finally, in light of the current research challenges, promising research directions are presented, aiming at enhancing their performance and stability in such harsh thermal environments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Energy Engineering and Cleaner Production: A Sustainable Chemistry Perspective)
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33 pages, 3335 KiB  
Review
Ammonia Can Be Currently Considered One of the Best Green Energy Allies
by Rubén González and Xiomar Gómez
Sustain. Chem. 2024, 5(2), 163-195; https://doi.org/10.3390/suschem5020012 - 19 Jun 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2458
Abstract
Ammonia can be considered a relevant compound in the future energy sector, playing a significant role as an energy carrier, storage, or carbon-free fuel. However, the production of this molecule has a high energy demand, and the use of natural gas, which is [...] Read more.
Ammonia can be considered a relevant compound in the future energy sector, playing a significant role as an energy carrier, storage, or carbon-free fuel. However, the production of this molecule has a high energy demand, and the use of natural gas, which is not free of controversy due to the accidental leakage into the atmosphere produced during extraction and the fact that it is a nonrenewable source, contributes to increasing greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing the process’s energy demand and carbon footprint will be essential to making ammonia a clear alternative for a carbon-free economy. Given the vast research in ammonia production and handling, this gas seems to be the logical step forward in the evolution of the energy sector. However, the current uncertainty in the global market requires cautiousness in decision making. Several factors may impact economic growth and human welfare, thus needing a careful assessment before making any transcendental decisions that could affect worldwide energy prices and raw material availability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Energy Engineering and Cleaner Production: A Sustainable Chemistry Perspective)
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Other

8 pages, 228 KiB  
Perspective
Sustainable-by-Design Approach of Active Catalysts to Produce Reactive Oxygen Species in Water Matrices
by Prisco Prete
Sustain. Chem. 2024, 5(2), 60-67; https://doi.org/10.3390/suschem5020005 - 29 Mar 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1302
Abstract
An overview of the latest advances in the design of active catalysts with the ability to promote (photo) Fenton processes in water from a Green Chemistry perspective is discussed herein. A critical evaluation of the most relevant advances has been disclosed, and a [...] Read more.
An overview of the latest advances in the design of active catalysts with the ability to promote (photo) Fenton processes in water from a Green Chemistry perspective is discussed herein. A critical evaluation of the most relevant advances has been disclosed, and a brief perspective is presented about what is needed to fill the gap of knowledge in this field. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Energy Engineering and Cleaner Production: A Sustainable Chemistry Perspective)
14 pages, 642 KiB  
Perspective
A Perspective on Solar-Driven Electrochemical Routes for Sustainable Methanol Production
by Aaditya Pendse and Aditya Prajapati
Sustain. Chem. 2024, 5(1), 13-26; https://doi.org/10.3390/suschem5010002 - 6 Mar 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2011
Abstract
The transition towards sustainable and renewable energy sources is imperative in mitigating the environmental impacts of escalating global energy consumption. Methanol, with its versatile applications and potential as a clean energy carrier, a precursor chemical, and a valuable commodity, emerges as a promising [...] Read more.
The transition towards sustainable and renewable energy sources is imperative in mitigating the environmental impacts of escalating global energy consumption. Methanol, with its versatile applications and potential as a clean energy carrier, a precursor chemical, and a valuable commodity, emerges as a promising solution within the realm of renewable energy technologies. This work explores the integration of electrochemistry with solar power to drive efficient methanol production processes, focusing on electrochemical reduction (ECR) of CO2 and methane oxidation reaction (MOR) as pathways for methanol synthesis. Through detailed analysis and calculations, we evaluate the thermodynamic limits and realistic solar-to-fuel (STF) efficiencies of ECR and MOR. Our investigation encompasses the characterization of multijunction light absorbers, determination of thermoneutral potentials, and assessment of STF efficiencies under varying conditions. We identify the challenges and opportunities inherent in both ECR and MOR pathways, shedding light on catalyst stability, reaction kinetics, and system optimization, thereby providing insights into the prospects and challenges of solar-driven methanol synthesis, offering a pathway towards a cleaner and more sustainable energy future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Energy Engineering and Cleaner Production: A Sustainable Chemistry Perspective)
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