Green Chemical Engineering最新文献

{"title":"Integrated alkaline and deep eutectic solvent-based green strategy for lignin fractionation and thermochemical valorization","authors":"Penghui Li ,&nbsp;Shubin Wu ,&nbsp;Honghong Wang ,&nbsp;Yuliang He","doi":"10.1016/j.gce.2025.07.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gce.2025.07.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this work, an efficient and green strategy for selective extraction and high-value utilization of lignin was proposed. Most of the hemicellulose in the feedstock was first removed by alkaline pretreatment to create a favorable structural environment for subsequent lignin dissolution. Subsequently, an acid-alcohol deep eutectic solvent (DES) system based on FeCl₃-ethylene glycol (FeCl₃-EG) was developed to achieve efficient and selective lignin dissolution. The results of characterization by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) showed that the lignin was removed significantly after the treatment, the cellulose structure was preserved, and the crystallinity and specific surface area were increased to 73.46% and 2.764 m²/g, respectively. The highest delignification rate of 96.53% was achieved when EG:FeCl₃ = 1:0.3. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) detected a variety of low molecular phenolic products. <em>In-situ</em> Raman spectroscopy revealed the dynamic process of lignin dissolution from the cell wall. The regenerated lignin was systematically characterized by FTIR, thermogravimetry (TG), elemental analysis, and two-dimensional heteronuclear single quantum coherence-nuclear magnetic resonance (2D HSQC-NMR), and it was found that as the FeCl₃ content in DES increased, the β-<em>O</em>-4 content decreased, and the thermal stability of lignin increased. The pyrolysis properties were further analyzed by <em>in-situ</em> infrared (IR) spectroscopy, pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py GC-MS), and U-tube device, which showed that the regenerated lignin pyrolysis products had a high yield of the liquid phase and good phenol selectivity (40.94%), which demonstrated good selectivity and application prospects. This study provides a theoretical basis and process reference for the green extraction of lignin and its platform compound conversion.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":66474,"journal":{"name":"Green Chemical Engineering","volume":"7 2","pages":"Pages 234-244"},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145814419","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Fluffy LDH/GO 2D membrane for rapid removal of soluble pollutants and enhanced catalytic self-cleaning performance","authors":"Ruilong Zhang ,&nbsp;Jun Zhao ,&nbsp;Qiangqiang Jia ,&nbsp;Jian Ye ,&nbsp;Xiaohua Tian ,&nbsp;Lulu Wang ,&nbsp;Ifunanya R. Akaniro ,&nbsp;Prince N. Amaniampong ,&nbsp;Jianming Pan ,&nbsp;Jiangdong Dai","doi":"10.1016/j.gce.2024.10.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gce.2024.10.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The rapid expansion of the chemical and pharmaceutical industries has resulted in the introduction of various sources of micropollutants into the environment, posing threats to drinking water quality and public health. Membrane separation technology offers a promising solution with low energy use, high-quality effluent, and operational simplicity. Here, we developed fluffy layered double hydroxides (LDH)/graphene oxide (GO) 2D membranes, specifically tannic acid-mediated LDH-GO/GO-TA composite membranes (LG/GT). The integration of GO nanosheets regulated the growth of LDH, enhancing electron transfer and adsorption-driven catalytic performance. This design enabled LDH-GO to activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) and completely degraded Rhodamine B (RhB) within 10 min. The Gaussian calculation was combined with this finding, which could explain the catalytic self-cleaning in the separation process. The TA-mediated enhancement further increased the RhB rejection of LG/GT-7.5 to 99.23%. Additionally, the needle/sheet structure significantly improved permeance to 358.28 L m⁻² h⁻¹ bar⁻¹, surpassing the L/GT-7.5 performance (<em>e.g</em>. 338.53 L m⁻² h⁻¹ bar⁻¹), indicating superior pore formation and water mass transfer. The heterostructure between GO and LDH greatly improved cycling stability, with the membrane maintaining a permeance of 282.71 L m⁻² h⁻¹ bar⁻¹ and a rejection of 97.97% despite 20 cycles. This work demonstrated the potential of fluffy layered LDH 2D membranes for enhanced wastewater treatment applications. These findings suggested significant potential for practical implementation in industrial wastewater treatment processes, offering a sustainable and efficient solution to water pollution challenges.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":66474,"journal":{"name":"Green Chemical Engineering","volume":"7 2","pages":"Pages 168-179"},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145814411","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ionic liquids with multiple hydrogen bonds as metal-free catalysts for efficient hydrolysis of PET under relatively mild conditions","authors":"Zhenyu Zhao ,&nbsp;Jiayi Bai ,&nbsp;Han Tao ,&nbsp;Shenyao Wang ,&nbsp;Kaili Wang ,&nbsp;Wenjun Lin ,&nbsp;Lili Jiang ,&nbsp;Haoran Li ,&nbsp;Congmin Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.gce.2024.12.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gce.2024.12.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Due to the strong hydrophobicity of PET, chemical catalysts usually require harsh conditions. Herein, inspired by the catalytic sites of PETase, we reported a metal-free catalyst with both high stability and activity, which could achieve almost complete hydrolysis of PET (≥ 99%) under relatively mild conditions (100 °C, PH ≈ 8). Mechanistic investigations showed that hydrogen bonds played an important role. With the increase of hydrogen bond multiplicity and strength, the reaction barrier decreased gradually. We believe that this work might provide a direction for the development of efficient metal-free catalysts and have great industrial application prospects.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":66474,"journal":{"name":"Green Chemical Engineering","volume":"7 2","pages":"Pages 219-224"},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145814417","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"OFC: Outside Front Cover","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/S2666-9528(25)00081-0","DOIUrl":"10.1016/S2666-9528(25)00081-0","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":66474,"journal":{"name":"Green Chemical Engineering","volume":"7 1","pages":"Page OFC"},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145420226","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Outside Back Cover","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/S2666-9528(25)00090-1","DOIUrl":"10.1016/S2666-9528(25)00090-1","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":66474,"journal":{"name":"Green Chemical Engineering","volume":"7 1","pages":"Page OBC"},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145420213","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mini-hydrocyclones in water: state-of-the-art","authors":"Lin Liu ,&nbsp;Yian Sun ,&nbsp;Lixin Zhao ,&nbsp;Yahong Wang ,&nbsp;Zeth Kleinmeyer ,&nbsp;Qinghai Yang ,&nbsp;Diego Rosso","doi":"10.1016/j.gce.2024.09.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gce.2024.09.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A mini-hydrocyclone (MHC) is known for its higher separation efficiency, particularly for fine or ultra-fine particles. However, the exact mechanism for enhancing the separation efficiency of MHCs has not been fully elucidated. This literature review fills the existing gap by comprehensively reviewing characteristics of the flow field inside MHCs, metrics of separation performance, applicable research methods, influence of physical and operating parameters, and provides references for future design and applications. Among them, the metrics of separation performance include grade separation efficiency, total separation efficiency, cut size, pressure drop, separation sharpness, and the fish hook effect, etc. This is the first time to comprehensively review the differences between MHCs and conventional hydrocyclones (CHCs) based on the above characteristics and metrics and analyze the separation advantages of MHCs. The fluid in MHC exhibits larger centrifugal acceleration, poor symmetry of tangential velocity, higher proportion of the wall friction loss, more obvious amplitude of partial sway of the air core, and smaller ratio of the locus of zero vertical velocity height to the total length of MHC. Challenges and further work on MHCs are also discussed in terms of potential applications and needed improvements.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":66474,"journal":{"name":"Green Chemical Engineering","volume":"7 1","pages":"Pages 17-37"},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145420215","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Emerging applications of N-heterocyclic carbenes and related materials in environmental decontamination","authors":"Chengtao Yue ,&nbsp;Xu Zhang ,&nbsp;Hong Li ,&nbsp;Chuanlei Luo ,&nbsp;Fuwei Li","doi":"10.1016/j.gce.2024.09.010","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gce.2024.09.010","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The increasingly environmental pollution have drawn global attentions to the development of new techniques that can effectively deal with the pollutants. With the unique set of electronic properties and structural diversities, N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) and related materials are emerging as potential adsorbing materials for adsorptive decontamination of various pollutant-containing mediums. Recent investigations have revealed the feasibility of molecular and heterogeneous NHCs for adsorptive separation of harmful gases including CO₂, CO, NO_<em>x</em>, SO₂, etc. Rather than simple gas trapping, NHCs functions as effective catalytic centers that activating and transforming the captured gas molecules. Besides, heterogeneous NHCs and their complexes have been applied to adsorptive removal of various organic pollutants and heavy metal ions from water solution with high efficiencies. These advancements have illustrated the significant potential of NHCs and their related materials in environmental decontamination. Instead of the well-known catalytic applications of NHCs in organic transformations, this review aims to offer an overview of the emerging applications of NHCs in the field of environmental decontamination and provide a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms behind the N-heterocyclic carbene material-mediated environmental decontamination processes. With this in mind, the structure, synthesis, application, and performance of NHCs and related materials in environmental processes including gas separation and wastewater treatment are summarized, and the structure-activity relationship is discussed. Besides, the current challenge and future development of NHC-mediated environmental treatments are proposed. This review is expected to serve as a preliminary database for the environmental applications of NHC and related materials and offer deep insights into the rational design of novel NHC-based environmental materials for greener and efficient environmental processes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":66474,"journal":{"name":"Green Chemical Engineering","volume":"7 1","pages":"Pages 1-16"},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145420217","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Environmentally sustainable production of biodiesel from low-cost lipid feedstock using a zirconium-based metal-organic framework sulfonated solid catalyst","authors":"Balkis Hazmi ,&nbsp;Umer Rashid ,&nbsp;Bryan R. Moser ,&nbsp;Mohd Hafizuddin Ab Ghani ,&nbsp;Fahad A. Alharthi ,&nbsp;Jeehoon Han ,&nbsp;Jiyun Yoo","doi":"10.1016/j.gce.2024.10.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gce.2024.10.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Heterogeneous acidic Zr-MOF (metal-organic framework) catalyst, UiO-66/SO₃H was synthesized for palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD)-methanol esterification. The characterizations for catalyst precursor and active catalyst were carried out using infrared spectroscopy, ammonia-temperature desorption analysis, thermogravimetric analyser, X-ray diffraction, surface textural analyser, and field emission scanning microscopy. The surface area of UiO-66 and UiO-66/SO₃H was 714.77 m²/g and 503.02 m²/g, respectively. Meanwhile, the acidity strength shown an increase in values, rising from 3.14 mmol/g to 7.98 mmol/g. Throughout the catalytic screening test under fixed parameters, UiO-66/SO₃H produced 72.3% of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) while 45.9% catalyzed by UiO-66. Then, UiO-66/SO₃H was selected for response surface methodology-central composite design (RSM-CCD) optimization. Following 31 experiments, the optimized conditions were determined to be 75 °C, 1.3 h, 4.2 wt% catalyst, and a methanol to PFAD molar ratio of 21:1, resulting in a yield of 98.6% FAME. Reusability tests demonstrated that the catalyst maintained its activity for seven cycles, averaging 72.4% yield but subsequently dropping to 53.8% after the eighth cycle. Environmental sustainability was evaluated using life-cycle assessment (LCA) across seven impact categories: global warming potential, stratospheric ozone depletion, acidification potential, terrestrial ecotoxicity, freshwater ecotoxicity, marine ecotoxicity, and fossil resource scarcity. LCA analysis revealed that the PFAD process had a substantial global warming impact, with the exception of microalgae-based biodiesel. The PFAD process has lower acidification potential than soybean or lignocellulosic biomass. Our advanced biodiesel production method, with minimal methanol and low electricity, is an environmentally friendly alternative.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":66474,"journal":{"name":"Green Chemical Engineering","volume":"7 1","pages":"Pages 94-108"},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145420209","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A high current density and long cycle life iron-chromium redox flow battery electrolyte","authors":"Yingchun Niu ,&nbsp;Qingtan Gao ,&nbsp;Runfa Zhao ,&nbsp;Ziyu Liu ,&nbsp;Ruichen Zhou ,&nbsp;Shengwei Yuan ,&nbsp;Jinfeng Yi ,&nbsp;Wei Qiu ,&nbsp;Chunming Xu ,&nbsp;Quan Xu","doi":"10.1016/j.gce.2024.09.007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gce.2024.09.007","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The electrolyte in the flow battery is the carrier of energy storage, however, there are few studies on electrolyte for iron-chromium redox flow batteries (ICRFB). The low utilization rate and rapid capacity decay of ICRFB electrolyte have always been a challenging problem. Herein, the effect of Fe/Cr molar ratio, and concentration of HCl on the performance of ICRFBs at high current density (140 mA cm⁻²) are investigated. The average energy efficiency of the optimal electrolyte (1.25 M FeCl₂, 1.50 M CrCl₃, 3.0 M HCl) increases by 5.99% in the first 20 cycles, and the discharge capacity increases by 15.72% in the first cycle compared to the original commercial electrolyte (1.0 M FeCl₂, 1.0 M CrCl₃, 3.0 M HCl). This electrolyte also shows a longer cycle life. In addition, the COMSOL simulation on the concentration change of electrolyte in ICRFB is proposed, the effect of physical properties on the electrolyte is further explained. Through the simulation and analysis of this complex system, researchers can better understand the performance of flow battery systems. It is important to consider various challenges and constraints that might be encountered in practical applications. This work effectively saves the cost of ICRFB and further provides data support for their engineering applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":66474,"journal":{"name":"Green Chemical Engineering","volume":"7 1","pages":"Pages 61-69"},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145420211","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Coupling pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass for enzymatic hydrolysis with electrochemical reduction of CO2 for production of formic acid","authors":"Xi Liu ,&nbsp;Fangqian Wang ,&nbsp;Yongrong Li ,&nbsp;Xuebing Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.gce.2024.09.008","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gce.2024.09.008","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A new coupled electrolysis system has been developed by combining pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass (corn stover) in alkaline anolyte for increasing cellulose digestibility with electrochemical reduction of CO₂ on the cathode to produce formic acid. Electrodeposition of Sn on calcinated copper foam results in preparation of an efficient cathode, ED-Sn@CuO_<em>x</em>, achieving 83.2% Faradaic efficiency of formate formation with a current density of 69.2 mA cm^-² in an H-type electrolysis cell. The ferricyanide/ferrocyanide redox couple plays an efficient electron mediator to improve the rate of electron transfer. Oxygen evolution reaction can be significantly suppressed, increasing the production rate of formate. Corn stover can be simultaneously pretreated by delignification in alkaline anolyte. Under the relatively optimal condition, the pretreated substrates obtained 96.6% glucose yield and 83.4% xylose yield. By inputting 1 kWh of electricity, the coupled system can obtain 0.27 kg formate with simultaneously pretreating 31.1 kg corn stover, resulting in the production of 14.2 kg fermentable sugars by subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis. Meanwhile, alkaline delignification in the anolyte also plays an important role in the increase of the pretreatment efficiency.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":66474,"journal":{"name":"Green Chemical Engineering","volume":"7 1","pages":"Pages 70-82"},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145420208","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}