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Sustainable Chemistry
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Efficient and Ecofriendly Chemical Synthesis of Advanced Materials for Energy...
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Efficient and Ecofriendly Chemical Synthesis of Advanced Materials for Energy and Environment

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2023) | Viewed by 30452

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Francesca Deganello

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute for the Study of Nanostructured Materials (ISMN)—Italian National Research Council (CNR), Via Ugo La Malfa 153, 90146 Palermo, Italy
Interests: solution combustion synthesis; nanomaterials for energy and environment; perovskite-type compounds; solid oxide fuel cells; rietveld analysis; sustainability and green chemistry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Maria Luisa Testa

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute for the Study of Nanostructured Materials (ISMN)—Italian National Research Council (CNR), Via Ugo La Malfa 153, 90146 Palermo, Italy
Interests: sustainable heterogeneous catalysis applied in the conversion of biomass; sustainable functionalization procedures; synthesis of metal nanoparticles; use of waste for the synthesis and production of new materials; biofuel production; added-value products; circular chemistry; process efficiency; microwave-assisted reactions; hybrid materials for wastewater purification; waste-derived antimicrobial materials; supramolecular systems for nanocatalysts
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Sergio Gonzalez-Cortes

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QR, UK
Interests: heterogeneous catalysts; sustainable chemistry; microwave catalysis, biomass valorisation; design and synthesis of nanomaterials

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Chemistry plays a fundamental role in advanced materials production. However, chemical synthesis is still bound to old procedures and methodologies that are often far from being sustainable, above all in the industrial field. Little attention has been dedicated to the efficiency of the processes, to the toxicity of the used reagents and solvents, and to quality and amount of waste produced after the procedures. The energy and the time required for the overall process are seldom taken into consideration. Furthermore, the environmental, health and ethical issues generated by the synthetic process or by the materials application are mostly neglected. In order to protect our environment without stopping the technological advancement of our society, a change is required. Therefore, a transition toward efficient and ecofriendly chemical methods for the synthesis of advanced sustainable materials is of paramount importance.

There are several reviews and Special Issues related to the synthesis of materials for energy and environmental applications. However, most of them cover quite specific topics within the wide spectrum of the synthesis and application of materials. This Special Issue, titled Efficient and Ecofriendly Chemical Synthesis of Advanced Materials for Energy and Environment, aims to give an integral perspective on the various synthesis methods of advanced materials, as well as their mechanistic features, advantages, challenges, and utilizations for energy production and environmental protection.

Sustainable chemical synthesis should take into consideration the overall process, from the feedstocks to the materials application, following the principles of a circular chemistry.

Chemists are encouraged to propose their sustainable methodologies for the synthesis of advanced materials for energy- and environment-related applications, considering at least one of the following aspects:

  • eco-friendly procedures and the use of non toxic reagent and solvents
  • use of waste-derived precursors in the synthesis
  • improvement of the reproducibility of the synthesis, as well as its scale up, at least at a laboratory scale
  • improvement of the efficiency, in terms of cost, energy and time saving, selectivity and yield.
  • waste reduction in the whole synthetic process
  • ethical and safety issues in the advanced materials synthesis

Looking at some of the aspects listed above, potential contributions (review articles, perspectives, original papers, and communications) should include, but are not limited to, the below topics:

  • Synthesis of photoluminescent materials for solar cell applications
  • Synthesis of advanced materials for applications as electrocatalysts, photocatalysts, and conventional heterogeneous catalysts
  • Synthesis and application of oxide catalysts from waste materials
  • Current and new strategies for synthesizing micro- and meso-structured materials
  • New synthetic approaches of materials for fuel cells and metal–air batteries
  • Advanced techniques for the in situ study of the synthesis of nanostructured materials
  • Synthesis of carbon-/graphene-based nanomaterials, and their energy and environment applications
  • Design and development of materials for water splitting reactions
  • Synthesis of efficient nanocatalysts for converting CO2 to high-value products
  • Design of layered-double hydroxide (LDH)-derived mixed oxides and/or LDHs-composites for energy and environmental applications
  • Synthesis and application of both supported metal catalysts with nanodispersed metal active species and organic–inorganic materials

Dr. Francesca Deganello
Dr. Maria Luisa Testa
Dr. Sergio Gonzalez-Cortes
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

  • materials synthesis
  • sustainable synthesis
  • energy and environment
  • advanced materials
  • ecofriendly procedures
  • waste reduction
  • waste precursors
  • waste management
  • fuel battery catalysts

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

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

Jump to: Review

13 pages, 5334 KiB  
Article
Isolation of Cardanol Fractions from Cashew Nutshell Liquid (CNSL): A Sustainable Approach
by Bhavika Bhatia, Nagarjuna Amarnath, Sumit K. Rastogi and Bimlesh Lochab
Sustain. Chem. 2024, 5(2), 68-80; https://doi.org/10.3390/suschem5020006 - 1 Apr 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3345
Abstract
Exploring sustainable approaches to replace petroleum-based chemicals is an ongoing challenge in reducing the carbon footprint. Due to the complexity and percentage variation in nature-generated molecules, which further varies based on geographical origin and the purification protocol adopted, a better isolation strategy for [...] Read more.
Exploring sustainable approaches to replace petroleum-based chemicals is an ongoing challenge in reducing the carbon footprint. Due to the complexity and percentage variation in nature-generated molecules, which further varies based on geographical origin and the purification protocol adopted, a better isolation strategy for individual components is required. Agrowaste from the cashew industry generates phenolic lipid (cardanol)-rich cashew nutshell liquid (CNSL) and has recently shown extensive commercial utility. Cardanol naturally exists as a mixture of three structurally different components with C15-alkylene chains: monoene, diene, and triene. The separation of these three fractions has been a bottleneck and is crucial for certain structural designs and reproducibility. Herein, we describe the gram-scale purification of cardanol into each component using flash column chromatography within the sustainability framework. The solvent used for elution is recovered and reused after each stage (up to 82%), making it a cost-effective and sustainable purification strategy. This simple purification technique replaces the alternative high-temperature vacuum distillation, which requires substantial energy consumption and poses vacuum fluctuation and maintenance challenges. Three components (monoene 42%, diene 22%, and triene 36%) were isolated with good purity and were fully characterized by 1H and 13C NMR, GC-MS, HPLC, and FTIR spectroscopy. The present work demonstrates that greener and simpler strategies pave the way for the isolation of constituents from nature-sourced biochemicals and unleash the potential of CNSL-derived fractions for high-end applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Efficient and Ecofriendly Chemical Synthesis of Advanced Materials for Energy and Environment)
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18 pages, 7761 KiB  
Article
Saccharide-Derived Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles with High Photocatalytic Activity for Water Decontamination and Sanitation
by Kazi Afroza Sultana, Javier Hernandez Ortega, Md Tariqul Islam, Zayra N. Dorado, Bonifacio Alvarado-Tenorio, Ignacio Rene Galindo-Esquivel and Juan C. Noveron
Sustain. Chem. 2023, 4(4), 321-338; https://doi.org/10.3390/suschem4040023 - 3 Nov 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2382
Abstract
Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) with a high photocatalytic performance were prepared by using the aerobic combustion of saccharides such as glucose, fructose, dextrin, and starch with zinc nitrate. The ZnO NPs were characterized by using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy [...] Read more.
Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) with a high photocatalytic performance were prepared by using the aerobic combustion of saccharides such as glucose, fructose, dextrin, and starch with zinc nitrate. The ZnO NPs were characterized by using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray scattering spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), and UV-vis spectroscopy. The TEM images revealed that the ZnO NPs have sizes ranging from ~20 to 35 nm with a bandgap of ~3.32 eV. The XRPD pattern revealed the hexagonal wurtzite crystalline structure of the ZnO NPs. The photocatalytic properties of the ZnO NPs were studied by the photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange (MO) in deionized water (DIW) and simulated fresh drinking water (FDW) under ultraviolet light (UV-B) and sunlight illumination. The terephthalic acid photoluminescence technique was also used to study the generation of a hydroxyl radical (•OH) by ZnO NPs. The saccharide-derived ZnO NPs exhibited higher photocatalytic activity than the nonsaccharide-derived ZnO NPs. Varying the type of saccharides used during the calcination had some effect on the degree of the catalytic enhancement. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Efficient and Ecofriendly Chemical Synthesis of Advanced Materials for Energy and Environment)
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13 pages, 4587 KiB  
Article
Green Synthesis of De Novo Bioinspired Porous Iron-Tannate Microstructures with Amphoteric Surface Properties
by Hemali Rathnayake, Sheeba Dawood, Gayani Pathiraja, Kelvin Adrah and Olubunmi Ayodele
Sustain. Chem. 2022, 3(2), 192-204; https://doi.org/10.3390/suschem3020013 - 5 May 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3382
Abstract
Bioinspired porous microstructures of iron-tannate (Fe(III)-TA) coordination polymer framework were synthesized by catenating natural tannic acid with iron(II), using a scalable aqueous synthesis method in ambient conditions. The chemical composition, morphology, physiochemical properties, and colloidal stability of microstructures were elucidated. The surface area [...] Read more.
Bioinspired porous microstructures of iron-tannate (Fe(III)-TA) coordination polymer framework were synthesized by catenating natural tannic acid with iron(II), using a scalable aqueous synthesis method in ambient conditions. The chemical composition, morphology, physiochemical properties, and colloidal stability of microstructures were elucidated. The surface area (SBET) and the desorption pore volume were measured to be 70.47 m2/g and 0. 44 cm3/g, respectively, and the porous structure was confirmed with an average pore dimension of ~27 nm. Microstructures were thermally stable up to 180 °C, with an initial weight loss of 13.7% at 180 °C. They exhibited high chemical stability with pH-responsive amphoteric properties in aqueous media at pH levels ranging from 2 to 12. Supporting their amphoteric sorption, microstructures exhibited rapid removal of Pb+2 from water, with 99% removal efficiency, yielding a maximum sorption capacity of 166.66 mg/g. Amphoteric microstructures of bioinspired metal–phenolate coordination polymers remain largely unexplored. Additionally, natural polyphenols have seldomly been used as polytopic linkers to construct both porous and pH-responsive amphoteric coordination polymer frameworks with a robust structure in both acidic and basic media. Thus, this de novo porous microstructure of Fe(III)-TA and its physiochemical surface properties have opened new avenues to design thermally and chemically stable, eco-friendly, low-cost amphoteric sorbents with multifunctionality for adsorption, ion exchange, separation, storage, and sensing of both anions and cations present in heterogeneous media. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Efficient and Ecofriendly Chemical Synthesis of Advanced Materials for Energy and Environment)
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16 pages, 9165 KiB  
Article
Synthesis of Silica-Based Materials Using Bio-Residues through the Sol-Gel Technique
by Karine Zanotti, Katerine Igal, María Belen Colombo Migliorero, Vânia Gomes Zuin and Patricia Graciela Vázquez
Sustain. Chem. 2021, 2(4), 670-685; https://doi.org/10.3390/suschem2040037 - 30 Nov 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3631
Abstract
This study focused on the use of citrus bio-waste and obtention of silica-based materials through the sol-gel technique for promoting a greener and more sustainable catalysis. The sol-gel method is a versatile synthesis route characterized by the low temperatures the materials are synthesized [...] Read more.
This study focused on the use of citrus bio-waste and obtention of silica-based materials through the sol-gel technique for promoting a greener and more sustainable catalysis. The sol-gel method is a versatile synthesis route characterized by the low temperatures the materials are synthesized in, which allows the incorporation of organic components. This method is carried out by acid or alkali hydrolysis combined with bio-waste, such as orange and lemon peels, generated as co-products in the food processing industry. The main objective was to obtain silica-based materials from the precursor TEOS with different catalysts—acetic, citric and hydro-chloric acids and ammonium hydroxide—adding different percentages of lemon and orange peels in order to find the influence of bio-waste on acids/alkali precursor hydrolysis. This was to partially replace these catalysts for orange or lemon peels. The solids obtained were characterized with different techniques, such as SEM, FT₋IR, potentiometric titration and XRD. SEM images were compared with pure silica obtained to contrast the morphology of the acidic and alkali hydrolysis. However, until now, few attempts have been made to highlight the renewability of reagents used in the synthesis or to incorporate bio-based catalytic processes on larger scales. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Efficient and Ecofriendly Chemical Synthesis of Advanced Materials for Energy and Environment)
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Review

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34 pages, 2164 KiB  
Review
Recent Advances in Biogenic Silver Nanoparticles for Their Biomedical Applications
by Muskan Goel, Anurag Sharma and Bechan Sharma
Sustain. Chem. 2023, 4(1), 61-94; https://doi.org/10.3390/suschem4010007 - 3 Mar 2023
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 5027
Abstract
Owing to the unique property of large surface area/volume of nanoparticles, scientific developments have revolutionized the fields of nanotechnology. Nanoparticles can be synthesized through physical, chemical, and biological routes, where biologically synthesized nanoparticles are also referred to as biogenic-synthesized nanoparticles or bionanoparticles. Bionanoparticles [...] Read more.
Owing to the unique property of large surface area/volume of nanoparticles, scientific developments have revolutionized the fields of nanotechnology. Nanoparticles can be synthesized through physical, chemical, and biological routes, where biologically synthesized nanoparticles are also referred to as biogenic-synthesized nanoparticles or bionanoparticles. Bionanoparticles exploit the inherent reducing property of biological entities to develop cost-effective, non-toxic, time-efficient, sustainable, and stable nanosized particles. There is a wide array of biomedical focus on metallic nanoparticles, especially silver nanoparticles, due to their distinctive physiochemical properties making them a suitable therapeutic molecule carrier. This article aims to provide a broad insight into the various classes of living organisms that can be exploited for the development of silver nanoparticles, and elaboratively review the interdisciplinary biomedical applications of biogenically synthesized silver nanoparticles in health and life sciences domains. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Efficient and Ecofriendly Chemical Synthesis of Advanced Materials for Energy and Environment)
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17 pages, 1952 KiB  
Review
Design of Experiment: A Rational and Still Unexplored Approach to Inorganic Materials’ Synthesis
by Francesco Lamberti, Chiara Mazzariol, Federico Spolaore, Riccardo Ceccato, Luigi Salmaso and Silvia Gross
Sustain. Chem. 2022, 3(1), 114-130; https://doi.org/10.3390/suschem3010009 - 6 Mar 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 5077
Abstract
This review was devoted to outlining the use and potential increasing application of the Design of Experiment (DoE) approach to the rational and planned synthesis of inorganic nanomaterials, with a particular focus on polycrystalline nanostructures (metal and alloys, oxides, chalcogenides, halogenides, etc.) produced [...] Read more.
This review was devoted to outlining the use and potential increasing application of the Design of Experiment (DoE) approach to the rational and planned synthesis of inorganic nanomaterials, with a particular focus on polycrystalline nanostructures (metal and alloys, oxides, chalcogenides, halogenides, etc.) produced by sustainable wet chemistry routes based on a multi-parameter experimental landscape. After having contextualised the stringent need for a rational approach to inorganic materials’ synthesis, a concise theoretical background on DoE is provided, focusing on its statistical basis, shortly describing the different sub-methodologies, and outlining the pros and cons of each. In the second part of the review, a wider section is dedicated to the application of DoE to the rational synthesis of different kinds of chemical systems, with a specific focus on inorganic materials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Efficient and Ecofriendly Chemical Synthesis of Advanced Materials for Energy and Environment)
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57 pages, 2549 KiB  
Review
Hydrocarbon Compatible SOFC Anode Catalysts and Their Syntheses: A Review
by Selvaraj Senthil Kumar and Singanahally ThippaReddy Aruna
Sustain. Chem. 2021, 2(4), 707-763; https://doi.org/10.3390/suschem2040039 - 10 Dec 2021
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 4879
Abstract
With the fast depleting rate of fossil fuels, the whole world is looking for promising energy sources for the future, and fuel cells are perceived as futuristic energy sources. Out of the different varieties of fuel cells, solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are [...] Read more.
With the fast depleting rate of fossil fuels, the whole world is looking for promising energy sources for the future, and fuel cells are perceived as futuristic energy sources. Out of the different varieties of fuel cells, solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are promising due to their unique multi-fuel operating capability without the need for an external reformer. Nonetheless, the state-of-the-art anode material Ni–YSZ undergoes carburization in presence of hydrocarbons (HCs), resulting in performance degradation. Several strategies have been explored by researchers to overcome the issue of carburization of the anode. The important strategies include reducing SOFC operating temperature, adjustment of steam: carbon ratio, and use of alternate anode catalysts. Among these, the use of alternate anodes is a promising strategy. Apart from the carburization issue, the anode can also undergo sulfur poisoning. The present review discusses carburization and sulfur poisoning issues and the different strategies that can be adopted for tackling them. The quintessence of this review is to provide greater insight into the various developments in hydrocarbon compatible anode catalysts and into the synthesis routes employed for the synthesis of hydrocarbon compatible anodes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Efficient and Ecofriendly Chemical Synthesis of Advanced Materials for Energy and Environment)
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