Themed collection UN Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate Action

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

Engineering microbial metabolism is tapped potential to convert industrial waste and by-products into high-value chemical products, providing a more sustainable alternative to traditionally oil-derived chemicals.

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.

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.

Photocatalysis, waste valorization, hydrogen, and the circular economy.

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.

Chemical looping technology provides an efficient means of sustainable CO₂ conversion to the important chemical intermediate of CO or syngas by changing conventional co-feeding of reactant into alternating feeding.

PBS and PBSA can be used to manufacture cost-effective and sustainable materials for applications in food packaging and agriculture.

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.

Increased human activity due to the ever-increasing global population has necessitated the urgent need for a sustainable environment, food, and energy.

The concept and first demonstration of an effective direct air capture molten carbonate chemistry is presented.

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

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

Photovoltaics (PVs), the fastest-growing renewable energy source, play a crucial role in decarbonizing global energy systems.

Exploring the efficient conversion of methyl levulinate to GVL using mixed metal oxides derived from MOFs under CTH in continuous flow. The optimized Al₂O₃–ZrO₂/C (1 : 1) catalyst achieves 80% ML conversion and 72% GVL yield at 200 °C in 30 minutes.

Herein, we have synthesized high-performance, low-cost ionomer biocomposites comprised of sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) and softwood Kraft lignin with proton selectivities three- to ten-fold higher than that of neat SPEEK.

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.

Cellulose acetate (CA) membranes incorporated with amino acids (AAs) and ionic liquids (ILs) fabricated using phase inversion technique have been proven to be efficient and effective for nanofiltration to treat heavy metal ion solutions.

Weakly sintered flakes have a higher recycling yield than spheres due to a higher sintered porosity of the printed structures.

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.

Single atom catalysts (SACs) supported on MXene have emerged as new-generation catalysts that exhibit unique properties and catalytic activity due to their tunable coordination environment and uniform catalytic active sites.

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.

We present a method for depolymerization of poplar lignin for microbial conversion via sulfonation and Fenton chemistry.

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.

Producing pellets, mushrooms, and bioethanol using microbial pretreatment of camelina straw has been proven to be economically feasible.

A process combining brine-electrolysis and photolysis is proposed for CH₄ and CO₂ removal from the troposphere. Further developments to meet applicable technology constraints in overall negative emission and economic viability are discussed.

Introducing long alkyl chains segregates the hydrogen donor groups, thereby increasing the catalyst activity, and the underlying mechanism has been studied.

Towards a greener hydrogen production by photocatalytic treatment of rice industry wastewater.

The redox activity of perovskite materials was tuned by an active cation doping strategy to promote two-step CO₂ splitting for sustainable solar fuel production.

A comparison of the effect of the preparation methods for CoMn/TiO₂ Fischer–Tropsch synthesis catalysts reveals the prevalence of Mn surface doping leading to enhanced product selectivity towards olefins and alcohols.

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

We conduct a harmonized lifecycle greenhouse gas assessment to compare the carbon removal efficiency and total energy required for twelve engineered carbon removal technologies.

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

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

This work introduces a novel methodology to plan and schedule decarbonisation strategies to achieve net-zero emissions. By integrating graphical and mathematical approaches, it provides a user-friendly tool to determine the optimal timing for implementation across investment plans.

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.