Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering最新文献

Prediction and assessment methods for sustainable solar energy systems within our planetary boundaries: how reliable are they?

IF 8 2区工程技术

Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering Pub Date : 2025-02-18 DOI: 10.1016/j.coche.2025.101100

Natalia A. Cano-Londoño , Rebecca Saive , Tim Bekius , Laura Franco-García

{"title":"Prediction and assessment methods for sustainable solar energy systems within our planetary boundaries: how reliable are they?","authors":"Natalia A. Cano-Londoño , Rebecca Saive , Tim Bekius , Laura Franco-García","doi":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101100","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101100","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study presents a critical analysis of the sustainability of solar energy systems within the planetary boundaries framework, which sets the limits within which humanity can safely operate. Given the substantial contribution of the energy sector to global greenhouse gas emissions, solar energy has emerged as a crucial element in the shift toward a sustainable energy future. Nevertheless, numerous challenges impede solar energy systems reaching optimal effectiveness, encompassing technological and methodological sustainable tools constraints, environmental impacts, and socioeconomic implications. This research aims to comprehensively assess these challenges and propose strategies to surmount them through applying a Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment approach. The primary research question addressed is, \"How reliable are the predictive and anticipatory assessment methods for sustainable solar energy systems within our planetary boundaries?\" The study integrated circular economy principles, criticality evaluation, and advanced technological tools to enhance solar energy systems’ efficiency, environmental performance, and socioeconomic benefits. By addressing the entire life cycle of solar technologies — from material extraction to end-of-life (cradle-to-grave) — this work seeks to contribute to developing more sustainable solar energy systems that operate within the safe limits of our planet’s boundaries. The findings highlight the need for a holistic approach that not only focuses on technological advancements but also considers the broader environmental and socioeconomic impacts to ensure a truly sustainable energy transition.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":292,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering","volume":"48 ","pages":"Article 101100"},"PeriodicalIF":8.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143436433","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Paving the way for green cross-linker substances for the fabrication of polymer membranes — a review

IF 8 2区工程技术

Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering Pub Date : 2025-02-13 DOI: 10.1016/j.coche.2025.101097

Roberto Castro-Muñoz , Grzegorz Boczkaj

引用次数: 0

Editorial overview: Advances on Z-scheme and S-scheme photocatalysis for environmental application

IF 8 2区工程技术

Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering Pub Date : 2025-02-12 DOI: 10.1016/j.coche.2025.101094

Fang Deng

引用次数: 0

Lignin-based membranes for health, food safety, environmental, and energy applications: current trends and future directions

IF 8 2区工程技术

Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering Pub Date : 2025-02-07 DOI: 10.1016/j.coche.2025.101098

Karen Acurio-Cerda, Rajesh Keloth, Oghenetega Allen Obewhere, Shudipto Konika Dishari

{"title":"Lignin-based membranes for health, food safety, environmental, and energy applications: current trends and future directions","authors":"Karen Acurio-Cerda, Rajesh Keloth, Oghenetega Allen Obewhere, Shudipto Konika Dishari","doi":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101098","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101098","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Polymer-based membrane technologies aim to address critical needs for separation, purification, transport, wound healing, contaminant removal, and more. While robust performance from these membranes is a priority, there is also a pressing need for sustainable, cost-effective solutions for membrane materials to replace perfluorinated and petroleum-derived polymers, which pose significant environmental concerns. Lignin, the second most naturally abundant polymer and a waste by-product of pulp and paper industries and cellulosic biorefineries, offers immense potential to drive sustainable materials revolution. This largely underutilized biopolymer possesses many physical and chemical attributes, making it suitable for biomedical, environmental, and energy applications. For instance, lignin and its functionalized derivatives offer antimicrobial, antioxidant, ultraviolet (UV)-blocking, and barrier properties, which are essential for slow drug release, wound healing with reduced stress, combating antibiotic resistance, and sterile food packaging/preservation. On the other hand, lignin’s 3D, hyperbranched architecture, phenolic units, and facile functionalization opportunities enable unique physical, mechanical, thermal, chemical, and ion transport/separation characteristics, critical for clean water and clean energy technologies. Therefore, by transforming lignin-rich biomass feedstock and industrial waste into value-added, efficient products, we can potentially address global needs for clean water, safe food, affordable healthcare, and renewable energy, as outlined in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. This mini-review highlights recent advancements in lignin-based membrane designs for biomedical, environmental, and energy applications, alongside a brief discussion on rooms for improvement in this emerging field via lignin valorization.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":292,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering","volume":"47 ","pages":"Article 101098"},"PeriodicalIF":8.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143350251","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Hydrogen production from photoelectrochemical wastewater treatment: advancing toward sustainability

IF 8 2区工程技术

Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering Pub Date : 2025-02-07 DOI: 10.1016/j.coche.2025.101096

Zexiao Zheng , Juhua He , Justin HK Man , Taoran Dong , Irene MC Lo

{"title":"Hydrogen production from photoelectrochemical wastewater treatment: advancing toward sustainability","authors":"Zexiao Zheng , Juhua He , Justin HK Man , Taoran Dong , Irene MC Lo","doi":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101096","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101096","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Incorporating green hydrogen production into photoelectrochemical (PEC) wastewater treatment has been demonstrated as a promising approach to enhance the sustainability of wastewater treatment. Such a bifunctional PEC system eliminates the dependence of water splitting on pure water consumption and enables wastewater valorization. This critical review initially delves into the advances in developing photoelectrodes for bifunctional PEC systems and summarizes the involved modification approaches. Subsequently, the review provides a comprehensive analysis of strategies for optimizing the operation of bifunctional PEC systems and impacts from the wastewater matrices. Furthermore, the challenges presented in the industrialization of this technology are also pointed out. As such, further investigations are encouraged into the scale-up of the PEC reactor, the prolongation of photoelectrode lifespan, the development of downstream hydrogen storage techniques, cost-effectiveness assessment, and the strategy against external variations, thus advancing the bifunctional PEC technique toward industrialization.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":292,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering","volume":"47 ","pages":"Article 101096"},"PeriodicalIF":8.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143285452","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Innovation through intelligent computer-aided formulation design

IF 8 2区工程技术

Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering Pub Date : 2025-02-06 DOI: 10.1016/j.coche.2025.101099

Thunyaras Phanusupawimol , Kris Prasopsanti , Naz P Taskiran , Venkat Venkatasubramanian , Rafiqul Gani

引用次数: 0

Practicality and potential of membrane surface patterning in membrane technology

IF 8 2区工程技术

Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering Pub Date : 2025-01-27 DOI: 10.1016/j.coche.2025.101095

Yazan Ibrahim , Farah Ejaz Ahmed , Nidal Hilal

{"title":"Practicality and potential of membrane surface patterning in membrane technology","authors":"Yazan Ibrahim , Farah Ejaz Ahmed , Nidal Hilal","doi":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101095","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101095","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Surface patterning of membranes has demonstrated significant performance enhancements in various membrane-based technologies. Surface patterns can increase the effective membrane area, improve interfacial area, and enhance hydrodynamics, leading to better membrane properties. Such patterns have been successfully fabricated on a lab scale using template-based molding and direct fabrication process. However, transitioning these techniques to commercial-scale production presents challenges, including maintaining pattern fidelity, ensuring reproducibility and scalability, achieving cost-effectiveness, and avoiding pattern-induced defects. This short article focuses on the emerging field of surface patterning of membranes, exploring different techniques for pattern creation and their effects on membrane properties, structure, and performance. The practicality, sustainability, and scalability challenges of each technique are thoroughly evaluated to determine their potential for commercialization and broader application in membrane technology. The essential steps and future directions needed to address these concerns and limitations are discussed, and a framework for evaluating surface patterning techniques is proposed to stimulate future research and development, advancing the commercial viability and reliability of surface-patterned membranes in the membrane technology industry.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":292,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering","volume":"47 ","pages":"Article 101095"},"PeriodicalIF":8.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143174490","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Impact of modeling and simulation on pharmaceutical process development

IF 8 2区工程技术

Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering Pub Date : 2025-01-27 DOI: 10.1016/j.coche.2025.101093

Junu Kim , Kozue Okamura , Mohamed Rami Gaddem , Yusuke Hayashi , Sara Badr , Hirokazu Sugiyama

引用次数: 0

Recent progress on sustainable membrane manufacturing with green solvents and biopolymers

IF 8 2区工程技术

Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering Pub Date : 2025-01-27 DOI: 10.1016/j.coche.2025.101092

Chidambaram Thamaraiselvan, Ranil Wickramasinghe

引用次数: 0

Photogenerated charge carriers in photocatalytic materials for solar hydrogen evolution

IF 8 2区工程技术

Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering Pub Date : 2025-01-21 DOI: 10.1016/j.coche.2024.101087

Nguyễn Hoàng Ly , Lalitha Gnanasekaran , Tejraj M. Aminabhavi , Yasser Vasseghian , Sang-Woo Joo

{"title":"Photogenerated charge carriers in photocatalytic materials for solar hydrogen evolution","authors":"Nguyễn Hoàng Ly , Lalitha Gnanasekaran , Tejraj M. Aminabhavi , Yasser Vasseghian , Sang-Woo Joo","doi":"10.1016/j.coche.2024.101087","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coche.2024.101087","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Solar radiation–based green H<sub>2</sub> evolution has emerged enormous interest due to photocatalysts hastening the solar energy conversion into chemical energy and repeating the cycle performance. Recently, CdIn<sub>2</sub>S<sub>4</sub> (CIS) n-type semiconductors and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) having high-porous structures have emerged as excellent photocatalysts for green and sustainable energy generation due to their specific properties (e.g. durability, high surface area, tunable band gap, etc.). Novel composites based on combining CIS and MOFs enable broad light absorption, better separation, and transport of photogenerated carriers, improving solar energy utilization. In particular, charge migration at the interface between MOFs and CIS is noteworthy that the accumulation of photogenerated electrons on CIS conduction band causes remarkable enhancement of photocatalytic H<sub>2</sub> production. Covering the literature articles of the past 3 years, this mini-review presents efficient photocatalysts via simultaneous cooperation of CIS and MOF engineering as well as promising materials in H<sub>2</sub> production. First, this work illustrates applications of CIS- and MOF-based photocatalysts for solar H<sub>2</sub> evolution fabricating advanced photocatalysts with superior absorbed visible light. Last, future perspectives and challenges on emerging CIS- and MOF-assisted heterojunctions are provided, which create novel designs for materials by coupling CIS and MOF morphologies to create clean energy generation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":292,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering","volume":"47 ","pages":"Article 101087"},"PeriodicalIF":8.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143174494","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0