{"title":"Ultrasonic activation of persulfate for removal of aqueous pollutants: cavitational versus thermal mechanisms","authors":"Jongbok Choi , Dukyoung Lee , Younggyu Son","doi":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101136","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101136","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Sulfate radicals have been extensively studied for application in advanced oxidation processes owing to their excellent oxidizing power and efficacy. Recently, ultrasound (US) technology has emerged as a promising method for activating persulfate (PS). This work provides a critical review of the removal efficiencies and pseudo-1st-order degradation rates in only-PS, only-US, and US/PS processes to clarify the ultrasonic activation mechanism in US/PS systems. Experimental data from 53 cases across 15 studies were analyzed, and synergistic effects were evaluated. In only-PS processes, significant activation below 40°C was rarely observed, with few exceptions. Although several researchers reported high synergistic effects in US/PS processes, most cases showed low or negligible synergistic effects. High synergistic effects were attributable to incomplete cooling systems, low pollutant concentrations, and high PS/pollutant ratios. Therefore, the ability of acoustic cavitation to activate PS without thermal activation induced by US attenuation below 40°C remains debatable.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":292,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering","volume":"48 ","pages":"Article 101136"},"PeriodicalIF":8.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143865031","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}
{"title":"A review of the application and future directions of high-power ultrasonic technology in environmental protection","authors":"JunJie Ma , Juanjuan Wang , Fulei Xu , Xiaoge Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101105","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101105","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This review delves into the growing importance of power ultrasonic technology in the field of environmental protection, with a focus on its applications in wastewater treatment. It discusses various commercial transducer types, including piezoelectric, MEMS-based, air-coupled, high-frequency thin-film, magnetostrictive, and hybrid transducers, each with distinct characteristics and specific applications. The paper further assesses the effectiveness of power ultrasound in water treatment and resource recycling. Although power ultrasonic technology is still in the developmental stage and faces challenges such as high initial costs and energy consumption, this review looks to the future by identifying potential directions, such as the combination of power ultrasound with other advanced processes like catalytic oxidation and ozonation to further enhance treatment efficiency. It also emphasizes the integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning for process optimization.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":292,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering","volume":"48 ","pages":"Article 101105"},"PeriodicalIF":8.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143550202","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}
Davide Bernardo Preso , Ivan Smirnov , Mohamad Salimi , James Kwan
{"title":"Broadening the sonochemistry horizon: hurdles and challenges to address in cavitation","authors":"Davide Bernardo Preso , Ivan Smirnov , Mohamad Salimi , James Kwan","doi":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101128","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101128","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This article provides an overview of the current challenges associated with cavitation, highlighting the technological and experimental limitations in elucidating complex bubble dynamics. It also examines how the limited availability of experimental data constrains the development of numerical models. Additionally, the paper reviews recent advances in cavitation and their influence on the development of physical and chemical technologies, with a particular focus on sonochemical applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":292,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering","volume":"48 ","pages":"Article 101128"},"PeriodicalIF":8.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143808295","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}
Husain A Sumeru , Fajriana S Nurrusyda , Nova Rachmadona , Kuan Shiong Khoo , Pau Loke Show
{"title":"Intensified cavitation process for the pretreatment of microalgae: a mini review","authors":"Husain A Sumeru , Fajriana S Nurrusyda , Nova Rachmadona , Kuan Shiong Khoo , Pau Loke Show","doi":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101142","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101142","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Advancement of microalgae pretreatment is shifting toward scalable and cost-effective methodologies to exploit the composition of microalgae biomass. The phenomenon of cavitation demonstrates its potential in industrial processes and is now being harnessed as a pretreatment strategy in microalgae biorefinery. Cavitation techniques through ultrasonication and hydrodynamic cavitation have proven its potential at generating cavities whose implosions create shear stress capable of disrupting microalgae cell walls that increase the yield of bioactive compounds in microalgae biomass. Although this technology shows promising results in the bioprocess of microalgae biomass, the leap to commercialization is fraught with the cost-intensive process. Intensive processes involving optimizing energy efficiency, controlled cavitation, scaling-up technology, and ensuring high quality of extracted compounds remain key areas for further research. Resolving these issues is vital for integrating cavitation into microalgae biorefinery and unlocking various bioproduct development. This review aims to offer insight into the practical application of cavitation in microalgae biomass valorization. As research advances, the potential of cavitation applications will determine its viability as a sustainable industry-standard process.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":292,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering","volume":"48 ","pages":"Article 101142"},"PeriodicalIF":8.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143911961","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}
{"title":"Advancement in innovative strategies for poly (ethylene terephthalate) biodegradation","authors":"Anamika Kushwaha, Lalit Goswami, Beom Soo Kim","doi":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101121","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101121","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The present review thoroughly illustrates the recent advancements in the innovative strategies of poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET) biodegradation. It encompasses the involvement of the optimization of pretreatment process, microbes-mining, mixed strain/multi-enzyme approach, supplementation of auxiliary agents, enzyme and molecular engineering, and so on, with further delving into the inclusion of smarter technologies such as computational modeling, molecular mechanics, docking simulation, and machine learning. Finally, the review anticipates rejuvenating the traditional PET biodegradation process, offering more advanced, sustainable, green, fast, economic, and efficient techniques for PET biodegradation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":292,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering","volume":"48 ","pages":"Article 101121"},"PeriodicalIF":8.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143705606","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}
{"title":"Next-generation nanobioengineered materials for micro- and nano-plastic detection","authors":"Kshitij RB Singh , Jay Singh , Shyam S. Pandey","doi":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101102","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101102","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Micro- and nano-plastics (MNPs) have garnered global attention as pervasive and emerging contaminants due to their potential risks to humans and the environment. Their toxicity, bioaccumulation, and oxidative stress disrupt ecosystems, demanding an urgent need for risk monitoring. A thorough understanding of the extent of the problem and the need for an amicable solution utilizing nanobioengineered materials is highly desired owing to their unique properties, such as tailored surface chemistry, specificity, and high sensitivity. These properties allow them to interact with the contaminants at the molecular level, making them suitable for MNP detection. Moreover, they have the potential to overcome challenges, such as the complex environmental matrices, data reproducibility, and inefficient sampling faced by pre-existing techniques, making them a promising tool for detecting MNPs. This review presents the importance of next-generation nanobioengineered materials for developing biosensors for MNP detection, and efforts have also been directed to enrich the awareness of the researchers working in this domain by providing innovative solutions to challenges faced by pre-existing techniques. Additionally, utilizing these materials in biosensing devices helps to attain the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations by bridging Nano-biotechnology and environmental science, fostering future research, and shaping policies to combat MNP pollution.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":292,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering","volume":"48 ","pages":"Article 101102"},"PeriodicalIF":8.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144240724","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}
{"title":"Perspective in the industrial applications of sonoelectrochemical hydrogen production","authors":"Md Hujjatul Islam , Bruno G Pollet","doi":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101122","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101122","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div><em>Sonoelectrochemistry</em> is the incorporation of power ultrasound in electrochemistry. The use of ultrasound in electrochemical processes such as water electrolysis can lead to an energy efficiency enhancement in the range of 2–25% in low-temperature water electrolysers (LT-WE). However, this improvement greatly depends upon several factors such as the cell reactor design, the ultrasonic frequency, the transmitted acoustic power, and the distance between the ultrasonic transducer and the electrode. The main objectives of this review are to highlight recent advancements in using power ultrasound in water electrolysis and shed some light on possible commercial development by addressing the fundamental obstacles that lie in this technology. Several research works have highlighted that the efficiency improvement in ultrasound-aided water electrolysis is principally due to the gas bubble removal from the electrode surface, which ultimately reduces the ohmic resistance of the electrolytic cell. However, even with the observed higher efficiencies from the <em>sonoelectrolysers</em> for hydrogen production in R&D labs, this technology still faces challenges for further development due to the efficiency in competing with commercial LT-WEs, which are already in the range of 60–70%. If <em>sonoelectrolysers</em> are to succeed for commercial development and large-scale industrial applications, they would need to achieve overall efficiency much higher than current commercial LT-WEs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":292,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering","volume":"48 ","pages":"Article 101122"},"PeriodicalIF":8.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143739240","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}
Raymond R Tan , Maria Victoria Migo-Sumagang , Kathleen B Aviso
{"title":"Recent trends in optimization models for industrial decarbonization","authors":"Raymond R Tan , Maria Victoria Migo-Sumagang , Kathleen B Aviso","doi":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101118","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101118","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The global call for deep decarbonization poses the critical challenge of cutting greenhouse gas emissions from industrial operations. Decarbonization can be achieved with a mix of strategies and technologies, but decision-support models are needed to help optimize their emissions reduction portfolios. This review surveys the development and use of models to support industrial decarbonization decisions and proposes a research roadmap for the future. Four key modeling challenges are identified: epistemic uncertainties inherent in new technologies, feedback loops between techno-economic performance and technology selection, the interplay between multiple decision-makers, and embedding within a broader decarbonization context.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":292,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering","volume":"48 ","pages":"Article 101118"},"PeriodicalIF":8.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143591531","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}
Kimberley B McAuley , Jonathan P McMullen , Salvador Garcia Muñoz
{"title":"Editorial overview: Digital design of pharmaceutical manufacturing processes","authors":"Kimberley B McAuley , Jonathan P McMullen , Salvador Garcia Muñoz","doi":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101108","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101108","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":292,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering","volume":"48 ","pages":"Article 101108"},"PeriodicalIF":8.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143550312","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}
{"title":"Membranes from upcycled waste plastics: current status, challenges, and future outlook","authors":"Milad R Esfahani , Steven T Weinman","doi":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101106","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101106","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Plastic is ubiquitous across all aspects of modern life. Despite its usefulness, only 9% of all plastic waste ever produced has been recycled, leaving a tremendous amount that ends up in landfills and the environment. New strategies need to investigate using this waste plastic. This report analyzes upcycling waste plastics into membranes for water and gas separations. Polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene, poly(vinyl chloride), polyethylene, polypropylene, and tire rubber have been studied for use as membranes. Future work needs to investigate greener solvents, health and safety aspects, costs, supply and demand, and life cycle assessments for upcycling plastic waste into membranes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":292,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering","volume":"48 ","pages":"Article 101106"},"PeriodicalIF":8.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143464542","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}