Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry最新文献

Evaluating environmental sustainability is essential for determining the possible benefits of utilizing eco-friendly actions. There is increasing interest in analytical chemistry in developing and using environmentally friendly extraction processes. This review explores the advent and importance of green adsorbents as extractive materials in analytical chemistry applications. Sustainable green adsorbents from renewable sources provide an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional extraction techniques, reducing adverse environmental impacts and supporting a circular economy. This review focuses on various green adsorbents, including natural adsorbents, synthetic adsorbents like molecular imprinted polymers, metal–organic frameworks, covalent organic framework, nanomaterials, and carbon-based materials and their applications. Furthermore, green adsorbents are integrated with the principles of green analytical chemistry (GAC), which prioritizes reducing or eliminating harmful reagents and solvents. As the scientific community continues to prioritize sustainable practices, adopting green sorbents in analytical chemistry holds promise for advancing both environmental stewardship and analytical methodologies.

This review explores the evolution and impact of sustainable chemistry in agriculture. It traces its historical progress, key milestones, and challenges. The article delves into the fundamental principles, emerging technologies, and benefits of incorporating sustainable chemistry into farming practices. It specifically addresses areas like green synthesis, precision farming, soil health, and the use of organic agrochemicals, highlighting their significance in the field of agriculture. Key advancements discussed include sustainable formulations, technological developments, and policy transitions towards environmentally friendly agriculture. Examples of organic action plans are provided to illustrate the policy shifts towards more eco-friendly practices. The review explores the incorporation of circular economy principles in sustainable agriculture, illustrating a comprehensive approach to reducing waste and enhancing resource efficiency. The paper outlines future prospects of sustainable chemistry in agriculture, highlighting emerging trends and interdisciplinary collaborations. It concludes by indicating how sustainable chemistry can address significant challenges, including food scarcity and environmental degradation.

Anthropogenic activities have substantially perturbed the global nitrogen (N) cycle directly through enhancing reactive N (Nr) inputs and indirectly through climate and land-use change. However, the climatic impacts of the N cycle and its feedbacks on climate change remain very uncertain. In this review, we provide an overview of the dominant pathways by which anthropogenic Nr affects the climate system and summarize the available scientific assessments. We also review the latest progress on the responses of N cycle to changing climate to understand the potential for feedbacks between the N cycle and climate. With the urgent need to reduce Nr in the future to alleviate its negative environmental impacts, e.g. air pollution and eutrophication, we highlight the importance for bridging disciplines of atmospheric chemistry, ecology, and climatology to improve the scientific understanding and develop cobenefits for both environmental protection and climate change mitigation.

Organic electrochemistry has recently witnessed a renaissance in research as a green and cost-efficient method for activating small molecules. Although some of the critical challenges of batch electrosynthesis remain, flow electrosynthesis can overcome several issues arising from batch electroorganic systems, such as mass transfer, ohmic drop, and selectivity. The combination of flow technology with electrochemistry affords practitioners a very precise control over reaction conditions, thereby enhancing the reproducibility of electrochemical processes. The use of gases in chemical reactions for the synthesis of value-added fine chemicals is of great significance. This review summarizes recent advances in flow electrochemistry for biphasic (gas–liquid) organic synthesis. We summarise recent examples of selective hydrocarbon oxidations using oxygen gas in an electrochemical flow reactor.

Utilising CO₂ with non-thermal plasma technologies represents an emerging possibility to realise carbon circularity, especially in energy-intensive industries. The first prototype units are built even if most research is still at the laboratory scale. Many challenges still need to be solved, notwithstanding the recent mechanistic understanding. However, R&D still needs to be more focused on critical questions. The same is observed for plasma catalysis synergy. The recent results, prospects and gaps in plasma-activated CO₂ conversion and the issue of catalyst design are critically discussed.

Innovative smart packaging concepts are seen as crucial in addressing the challenges of sustainable food production. In this brief review paper, recent advancements in smart packaging are explored, with a focus on biogenic raw materials derived from agro-food by-products and waste. The primary goal is to develop environmentally sustainable systems that enhance food quality, extend shelf life, and thereby reduce economic and environmental losses. This paper briefly reviews recent findings on antioxidative and antimicrobial packaging concepts that delay food deterioration. One focus is on encapsulating natural substances and carbon dots in active films to boost their performance. The paper also discusses pH-sensitive anthocyanin-based indicators for assessing food freshness and analyzes strategies to stabilize these indicators, including encapsulation, enzyme inactivation, and multilayer film design. This review aims to provide guidance for future research and application in the field of sustainable smart packaging, offering innovative solutions for food preservation and food waste reduction.

This short paper suggests a review of the latest developments and current challenges associated with carbon dioxide capture, utilization and storage. Recent research has been conducted to reduce energy consumption, costs, and improve efficiency. In carbon dioxide capture, catalysts have been added to solvents while new membranes and sorbent materials have been investigated. In mineral carbon dioxide storage, studies have been carried out to improve reaction rates. Regarding the utilization path, attention has been focused on the development of sustainable chemicals (mainly based on electrochemical conversion), biochemical routes and power generation. Considering the respective challenges, future efforts should be focused toward the optimization of these systems at all levels, in addition to a public acceptance and new policies and regulations for their spread.

Current European, and particularly Mediterranean, agricultural production systems heavily depend on protein imports to cover the nutritional needs of farmed animals and fish. To increase their resilience, the EU is in search of efficient, sustainable, and locally produced alternative proteins. Insects and algae have recently gained much attention due to their ability to bioconvert agro-industrial side-streams into valuable resources. Legumes are known for their high protein content; however, certain species, such as lupins and fava beans, have been overlooked and underused as food and feed. Additionally, microbial fermentation can be used in parallel with insects, algae, and legumes, to efficiently transform them into food and feed. This contribution describes the challenges and chances associated with the utilization of these alternative protein sources for food and feed applications.

Since the 1950s, usage of plastic's ubiquity and durability have fostered significant microplastic pollution, set to double in oceans by 2030. Originating from diverse sources including product wear, waste, and now identified e-waste recycling, these particles traverse to marine ecosystems, accumulating and causing ecological harm. Measuring less than 20 μm, microplastics can penetrate cell membranes, posing risks to animal and human health. Confronting this challenge demands improved detection, comprehensive understanding of behaviors, enhanced hazard assessment, and recognizing e-waste's contribution. Mitigation hinges on global pollution management, innovative sustainable materials, and reducing plastic and electronic waste dependency.

The development of environmentally friendly approaches for resource recovery technologies is accelerating the progress of bio-based green adsorbents. A wide range of resources can be recovered from liquid and gaseous streams by employing green adsorbents. Waste biomass is a viable raw material for the development of novel environmentally friendly adsorbent materials. In recent times, there has been considerable focus on the exploration of efficient ways to produce adsorbent materials from different biomass. Due to its inherent functional moieties, biomass is an excellent raw material for customizing green adsorbents. To control the physicochemical properties of green adsorbents and enhance their activity, various activation and functionalization strategies have been explored. Despite the challenges linked with biomass feedstock, intense efforts have been devoted to the development of green adsorbents. In this short review, recent studies on the application of green adsorbent for resource recovery from liquid and gaseous streams are discussed.