Themed collection UN Sustainable Development Goal 9: Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure

Advanced catalytic strategies for CO₂ to MeOH conversion focus on approaches utilizing noble metals. These methods leverage noble metal catalysts to facilitate CO₂ molecule activation and promote reduction to MeOH under mild conditions.

Safe-and-sustainable-by-design (SSbD) is a pre-market approach that integrates innovation with safety and sustainability along the entire life cycle.

Chemistry should adopt material stewardship as a central mission in fulfilling its vital role in sustainability for people and planet.

Plasma-based nitrogen fixation, leveraging non-thermal plasma technologies, offers a promising alternative to conventional processes, with the potential to decentralize fertilizer production, reduce CO₂ emissions, and employ renewable energy sources.

This study reviews saccharification technologies, focusing on HCl-based methods, their industrial evolution, and challenges in scaling, emphasizing the historical progress and ongoing need for innovation.

Thermochemical and bioprocessing are feasible for recovering valuable building block molecules from plastic residues. Chemo-enzymatic treatment of waste plastic-biomass mixtures is an open challenge due to the diverse composition of the residues.

Biomass-derived renewable olefins act as sustainable and cost-effective starting materials in the production of industrially valuable chemicals, such as aldehydes, amines and other compounds, through hydroformylation and related one-pot reactions.

A design of PET mechanical recycling at the industrial scale requires the inspection of the relevance of pre-treatment steps, degradation reactions and repair potential, accounting for the impact of contamination (e.g. NIAS) and regulations.

Complex polysaccharide substrates can serve as direct feedstocks for PHA biosynthesis, potentially eliminating the need for extra processing steps and significantly lowering production costs for sustainable plastics.

Noble gas plasma-collisional splitting (NgPCS) is an emerging hydrogen production technology.

Room temperature ultrasonication of waste PCBs to separate electronic components and technology critical metals.

Within the study, synthesis of OME in a continuous, liquid phase process at the kg h⁻¹ scale is demonstrated. Catalyst deactivation is observed and further investigated to understand the underlying mechanism and propose further developments.

This study presents a novel room-temperature, two-step process for separating catalyst-coated membranes (CCMs) used in fuel cells and water electrolysers.

Adoption of emerging technologies can be difficult, but can be improved by using a framework that incorporates the relative environmental, social, and economic performance of that new technology, such as for enzymatic recycling of a polymer.

We describe a curable system from phenolated lignin prepared from lignin extracted from low-value biomass using ultrasonic biorefinery technology via functionalisation with benzoxazine groups.

This study demonstrates SLA 3D printing of Li-ion battery anodes using recycled solar cell waste, achieving 400 mA h g⁻¹ capacity with 89% retention after 200 cycles. This sustainable approach surpasses graphite anodes and supports circular economy.

The scale up and recycling of all process streams in the H₄SiW₁₂O₄₀ catalyzed dehydration of D-fructose (Fru) to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) were investigated.

This study focuses on creating waste water hyacinth-thermoplastic starch biocomposites which showed tensile strength of 7.01 MPa and found biodegradable. Cytotoxicity assessments confirmed the composite's safety, for potential application.

Co-pyrolysis of biomass and plastics is essential to improve the quality and yield of pyrolytic products, optimise energy recovery, and mitigate plastic waste, providing a sustainable approach to waste valorisation.

In vivo toxicity of PVC and PAC sheets with embryonic zebrafish.

This research compared the filters made of kapok and milkweed fibres, which separated 5 μm and 2 μm droplets from oily wastewater with 5% oil concentration.

An improved process to convert 1-hexanol to hexenes under energy-saving conditions based on re-use of the catalysts Cu(OTf)₂, Hf(OTf)₄ and TfOH over 20 cycles led to an average alkene yield of 71–77%, and an initial lab scale up gave 1.3 kg product.

This study outlines a detailed process development of dendroketose preparation and its conversion to the bio-based platform molecule 4-hydroxymethyl-2-furfural (4-HMF) through a dehydration reaction in water as a green and sustainable solvent.

This study links sorghum biomass characteristics, such as lignocellulosic composition and morphology, to carbon properties like surface area, porosity, and electrochemical performance. Cellulose enrichment resulted in porous graphitic carbons with enhanced capacitance.

The environmental persistence of reactive blue 19 dye poses a significant challenge, driving the urgent need for efficient removal technologies to protect water quality.

We produced dissolving pulp from agricultural waste and compared the environmental impact to dissolving pulp from wood using LCA.

Solvent usage is one of the most critical factors for the carbon footprint of the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, with profound consequences of an undesirable or sub-optimal selection.

Non-isocyanate polyurethane nanocomposites from soybean oil and TiO₂ exhibit improved thermal stability, mechanical strength, hydrophobicity, and antimicrobial properties, highlighting eco-friendly material innovation.

Uncovering pathways to sustainable co-production schemes using industrial symbiosis.

Poly(ethylene furanoate) (PEF) is considered the greener alternative to classical poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), but still needs to be recycled. This study investigates the product-spectrum during biocatalytic hydrolysis by various esterases.

Cold plasmas powered by the renewable electricity can facilitate CO₂ desorption for carbon capture materials (CaCO₃) at low temperatures.

A bioderived and biodegradable nanocoating deposited on poly(lactic acid) significantly improves its oxygen barrier performance for applications in sustainable packaging.

5-(Chloromethyl)furfural (CMF) has received enormous interest over the past two decades as a carbohydrate-derived platform chemical for synthesizing organic chemicals of commercial significance.

This study reports a unique approach combining ethylene dichloride and vinylation to produce vinyl chloride that is both energy efficient and reduces chlorinated hydrocarbons, with the potential to enhance sustainable large-scale production plant set-up.

The specialty chemical sector offers unique opportunities for the development of electrochemical reaction processes to integrate low-carbon electricity and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.