RSC sustainability最新文献

{"title":"Clay mineral-based sustainable snow contaminant remediation technology†","authors":"Benilde Mizero, Saba Naderi, Sandeep Bose, Houjie Li and Parisa A. Ariya","doi":"10.1039/D4SU00155A","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D4SU00155A","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Seasonal snow covers up to 33% of the Earth's surface. Fresh falling snow serves as a snapshot of atmospheric processes and can take up pollutants. Once deposited, snow can affect the Earth's radiation and climate change, and its melting and accumulation processes can affect human health. Little has been done for snow pollution remediation, especially regarding emerging materials and nano/microplastics in urban regions. We present a sustainable, cost-effective snow remediation filtering system made of multilayer clay-based minerals, specifically kaolin and montmorillonite, capable of removing nano/micro-contaminants from snow. In addition, a recycled metallic mesh with various pore sizes, including nano/micro size, can remove substantial snow contaminants. Using a suite of technologies including high-resolution S/TEM, Pelletier ice nucleation counter, NALDI mass spectrometry, Photoacoustic Extinctiometer (PAX), triple quad ICP-MS/MS, and TOC counter, we found that the clay-mineral setup is highly efficient. For instance, it removes metallic species (&gt;95%), plastic micro/nanoparticles like polyethylene glycol and polyethylene (&gt;99%), black carbon (&gt;93%), and total organic carbon (&gt;50%) from dirty snow sampled in the primary snow depository in downtown Montreal. This sustainable and inexpensive method is promising for significantly reducing the environmental impact of snow pollutants, improving current snow remediation practices in urban areas, decreasing the re-emission of contaminants in air, soil, and water leaching, and improving the ecosystem and human health.</p>","PeriodicalId":74745,"journal":{"name":"RSC sustainability","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2024/su/d4su00155a?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142368718","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Towards green visible range active photocatalytic Au/TiO2 nanocomposites through rutin-based synthesis and their application in the degradation of ciprofloxacin†","authors":"Inês Catarina Gomes Espada, Noelia González-Ballesteros, Carlos J. Tavares, Senentxu Lanceros-Méndez and Pedro M. Martins","doi":"10.1039/D4SU00186A","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D4SU00186A","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Photocatalysis is a low-cost solution to efficiently remove resilient emergent pollutants from wastewater with complex chemical structures, such as pharmaceuticals. Titanium dioxide (TiO<small>₂</small>) is the most studied photocatalyst and is usually functionalised with gold (Au) nanoparticles to prevent electron–hole pair recombination and extend visible radiation absorption. However, conventional synthesis techniques use toxic chemicals and present high energy consumption. The focus of this work is to present and optimize a green synthesis method using the flavonoid rutin – a natural compound found in various plants – as the reducing agent at room temperature to decrease the environmental impact and optimise the chemical, physical, and photocatalytic properties of Au/TiO<small>₂</small> nanoparticles with concentrations of Au of 0.025, 0.1, and 1 wt%. Through ciprofloxacin (CIP) degradation under UV and simulated solar radiation, enhanced photocatalytic efficiency is observed due to adding Au nanoparticles, proving that rutin is a suitable reducing agent for green nanoparticle synthesis.</p>","PeriodicalId":74745,"journal":{"name":"RSC sustainability","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2024/su/d4su00186a?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142368716","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Membrane-immobilized transaminases for the synthesis of enantiopure amines†","authors":"Hippolyte Meersseman Arango, Xuan Dieu Linh Nguyen, Patricia Luis, Tom Leyssens, David Roura Padrosa, Francesca Paradisi and Damien P. Debecker","doi":"10.1039/D4SU00293H","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D4SU00293H","url":null,"abstract":"<p >For the manufacture of enantiopure amines, greener synthesis processes are needed. Transaminases (TAs) are able to produce chiral amines with excellent enantioselectivity and in mild conditions, and can be immobilized to target stability, recoverability, and reusability. In the perspective of process intensification, we propose to study TA immobilization onto polymeric membranes. Two main immobilization strategies were investigated, requiring prior membrane surface functionalization. On the one hand, a polyacrylonitrile (PAN) membrane surface was partially hydrolyzed and coated with polyethyleneimine (PEI) to electrostatically trap TAs. On the second hand, a polypropylene (PP) membrane was coated with polydopamine (PDA), which was subsequently modified with glycerol diglycidyl ether (GDE) in order to covalently graft TAs. The successful membrane functionalization was confirmed by surface characterization techniques (infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, contact angle measurements, and scanning electron microscopy). Enzyme leaching was observed from the functionalized PAN membrane, highlighting the need to post-treat the reversibly immobilized TAs to improve their anchoring. The covalent coupling of TAs with PEI using glutaraldehyde (GA) was found highly effective to avoid leaching and to increase the enzyme loading, without affecting the specific activity of the biocatalyst. Similarly, the covalent grafting of TA onto functionalized PP membranes yielded very efficient biocatalysts (retaining 85% specific activity with respect to soluble TA) displaying perfect recyclability throughout successive cycles. Immobilizing either the S-selective HeWT or the R-selective TsRTA resulted in robust heterogeneous biocatalysts with antagonist enantioselectivities. Thus, chiral amine synthesis can be performed effectively with biocatalytic membranes, which paves the way to intensified continuous flow synthesis processes.</p>","PeriodicalId":74745,"journal":{"name":"RSC sustainability","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2024/su/d4su00293h?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142262094","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Oxidative Cleavage of β-O-4 bonds in Lignin Model Compounds with Polymer-Supported Ni-Salen Catalysts","authors":"Qiongli Liu, Dianyong Yang, Xiuge Zhao, Zhiwei Xu, Ji Ding, Danqi Wu, Ning An, Huiying Liao, Zhenshan Hou","doi":"10.1039/d4su00331d","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4su00331d","url":null,"abstract":"The transition metal-catalyzed lignin oxidative cleavage reactions have attracted considerable attention. In this work, the polymerized ionic liquid-tagged Salen ligands have been initially synthesized, followed by anion exchange, and then coordination with Ni(Ⅱ) via the -N2O2- tetradentate structure. Finally, the as-obtained Ni Salen complexes were polymerized to give a Ni-Salen polymer catalyst (poly Ni-[Salen-Vim][OAc]2). The resulting catalyst showed 99% conversion and 88% selectivity to the oxidative cleavage products for the oxidative cleavage of the lignin model compound (2-phenoxy-1-phenylethanone) without any base additive at 110°C. The polymeric ionic liquid-tagged Salen(Ni) catalysts can be separated easily by centrifugation after the reaction, and recycled for five runs with a slight loss of activity. Additionally, the studies on birch lignin depolymerization indicated that the polymer-supported Ni Salen catalyst was able to cleave the β-O-4 linkages to produce the dimeric products. The further investigation suggests that the oxidative cleavage reaction was proceeded via a radical pathway.","PeriodicalId":74745,"journal":{"name":"RSC sustainability","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142262095","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":"Using waste to treat waste: Efficient alcoholysis of PET waste with shrimp shell derived catalyst using the response surface method","authors":"Ruiyang Wen, Guoliang Shen, Meiqi Zhang, Lejia Yang, Linlin Zhao, Haichen Wang, Xingzhu Han","doi":"10.1039/d4su00487f","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4su00487f","url":null,"abstract":"The recycling of post-consumer PET waste is a significant area of scientific research, with great importance for resource recycling and environmental protection. Here, we present our work on the glycolytic depolymerization of post-consumer PET, we utilized kitchen waste shrimp shells as raw material to prepare a derivative catalyst. To optimize the reaction in terms of PET conversion and BHET yield, RSM based on the Box-Behnken design was applied for the process of reaction. Based on the experimental results, regression models as a function of significant process parameters were obtained and evaluated by ANOVA to predict the depolymerization performance of X-700, the conversion of PET is 100% and the yield of BHET is 80.84 % under the optimization conditions by RSM. The yield of BHET still reached 76.3% after 3 times cycles. The catalyst offers several advantages, including superior catalytic activity, low cost, environmental friendliness, simple preparation method, and reusability. These advantages can provide valuable references for the preparation of biomass catalysts and their application in polymer waste.","PeriodicalId":74745,"journal":{"name":"RSC sustainability","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142262040","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":"Using Soapnut Extract as a Natural Surfactant in Green Chemistry Education: A Laboratory Experiment Aligning with UN SDG 12 for General Chemistry Courses","authors":"Zi Wang, Carter McLenahan, Liza Abraham","doi":"10.1039/d4su00397g","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4su00397g","url":null,"abstract":"Green chemistry education has gained significant momentum, with its emphasis on sustainable practices and the 12 principles of green chemistry. These principles aim to reduce waste, use safer solvents, and promote renewable resources in chemical processes. Integrating these principles into laboratory curricula fosters critical thinking about chemical impacts on the environment and society. The experiment involved extracting saponin from soapnut, testing its surfactant properties, and applying it in DNA extraction, and micellar extractions of pollutants like hexavalent chromium and methylene blue dye. Utilization of soapnut as a sustainable alternative to synthetic surfactants aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goal 12-Responsible Consumption and Production. Overall, this laboratory activity integrates green chemistry principles, sustainable development goals, and environmental stewardship, offering students practical experience in environmentally friendly practices and supporting SDG 4 (Quality Education) by enhancing learning through hands-on experimentation.","PeriodicalId":74745,"journal":{"name":"RSC sustainability","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142262102","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":"Increased hydrophilicity of lignin-derivable vs. bisphenol-based polysulfones for potential water filtration applications†","authors":"Jignesh S. Mahajan, Hoda Shokrollahzadeh Behbahani, Matthew D. Green, LaShanda T. J. Korley and Thomas H. Epps","doi":"10.1039/D4SU00314D","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D4SU00314D","url":null,"abstract":"<p >The functionality inherent in lignin-derivable aromatics (<em>e.g.</em>, polar methoxy groups) can provide a potential opportunity to improve the hydrophilicity of polysulfones (PSfs) without the need for the additional processing steps and harsh reagents/conditions that are typically used in conventional PSf modifications. As determined herein, lignin-derivable PSfs without any post-polymerization modification exhibited higher hydrophilicity than comparable petroleum-based PSfs (commercial/laboratory-synthesized) and also demonstrated similar hydrophilicity to functionalized BPA-PSfs reported in the literature. Importantly, the lignin-derivable PSfs displayed improved thermal properties relative to functionalized BPA-PSfs in the literature, and the thermal properties of these bio-derivable PSfs were close to those of common non-functionalized PSfs. In particular, the glass transition temperature (<em>T</em><small>_g</small>) and degradation temperature of 5% weight loss (<em>T</em><small>_d5%</small>) of lignin-derivable PSfs (<em>T</em><small>_g</small> ∼165–170 °C, <em>T</em><small>_d5%</small> ∼400–425 °C) were significantly higher than those of typical functionalized BPA-PSfs in the literature (<em>T</em><small>_g</small> ∼110–160 °C, <em>T</em><small>_d5%</small> ∼240–260 °C) and close to those of unmodified, commercial/laboratory-synthesized BPA-/bisphenol F-PSfs (<em>T</em><small>_g</small> ∼180–185 °C, <em>T</em><small>_d5%</small> ∼420–510 °C).</p>","PeriodicalId":74745,"journal":{"name":"RSC sustainability","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2024/su/d4su00314d?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142262096","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Insertion of CO2 to 2-methyl furoate promoted by a cobalt hypercrosslinked polymer catalyst to obtain a monomer of CO2-based biopolyesters†","authors":"Elizabeth Rangel-Rangel, Beatriz Fuerte-Díez, Marta Iglesias and Eva M. Maya","doi":"10.1039/D4SU00426D","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D4SU00426D","url":null,"abstract":"<p >2,5-Furan Dicarboxylic methyl Ester (FDME), a highly valued monomer for the synthesis of biobased polyesters, has been prepared through a new synthetic strategy that consists of the direct carboxylation of methyl furoate in two steps: the first one involves a solvent-free reaction using a moderate CO<small>₂</small> pressure (10 bar), a base (Cs<small>₂</small>CO<small>₃</small>) and a cobalt-based heterogeneous catalyst (HCP-Salphen-Co) for 6 h, which was prepared using mechanochemical polymerization. The second step consists of an acid esterification using standard conditions. The CO<small>₂</small>-based FDME synthesized with this strategy was successfully reacted with a diol derived from vanillin, thus obtaining a CO<small>₂</small> and a completely bio-based polyester which exhibited high thermal stability with a starting degradation temperature of 250 °C and a glass transition temperature of 104 °C.</p>","PeriodicalId":74745,"journal":{"name":"RSC sustainability","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2024/su/d4su00426d?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142262039","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Validating the “greenness” of chemicals via life cycle assessment: the case of anisole as an anti-solvent in perovskite solar cells†","authors":"A. Kamal Kamali, Nilanka M. Keppetipola, Yuka Yoshihara, Ajay Kumar Jena, Satoshi Uchida, Hiroshi Segawa, Guido Sonnemann, Thierry Toupance and Ludmila Cojocaru","doi":"10.1039/D4SU00361F","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D4SU00361F","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Technological development is increasingly driven by environmental sustainability, with labels like ‘green’ gaining traction. However, the complex interactions in a product's life cycle make the environmental impact of materials and chemicals highly context-dependent, highlighting the need for context-specific environmental assessments. Anisole has been popularly used as a “green” alternative to chlorobenzene for perovskite solar cell (PSC) fabrication. This work validates the technical and environmental performance of anisole in the fabrication of PSCs. PSCs exhibiting conversion efficiencies exceeding 22% can be attained by using anisole as an antisolvent. Moreover, around 50% reduction in the potential toxicity is obtained when substituting chlorobenzene for anisole embodied in the carcinogenic human and ecosystem toxicity impact categories. Nonetheless, anisole embodies higher impact in all 14 remaining impact categories. This is due to anisole's multistep synthesis procedure that contributes to more than double the climate change impact of chlorobenzene, synthesized by a single-step method. To reduce the emissions several recommendations and strategies are proposed. Ultimately, it has been proved that context-specific and transparent environmental assessments are needed to make informed decisions in research and development leading to environmentally sustainable solutions.</p>","PeriodicalId":74745,"journal":{"name":"RSC sustainability","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2024/su/d4su00361f?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142262089","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Biologically active dual functional zinc-doped biomass-derived carbon dots†","authors":"Mohammad Tariq, Mo Ahamad Khan, Hammad Hasan, Sangeeta Yadav, Amaresh Kumar Sahoo and Md Palashuddin Sk","doi":"10.1039/D4SU00439F","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D4SU00439F","url":null,"abstract":"<p >The resistance of bacteria to antibiotics poses a significant challenge in the current global landscape. Despite this urgency, the pace of drug development has not matched the pressing need. Addressing this gap, we have developed zinc-doped carbon dots (Zn-Cdots) using biomass as a carbon source by a simple, and eco-friendly hydrothermal method to treat bacterial infection. Plant-derived biomass serves as an excellent source of various bioactive molecules, making it a viable carbon source for synthesizing Zn-Cdots. The characterization of Zn-Cdots was performed using multiple techniques, including UV-Visible spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, TEM analysis, XRD, FTIR and XPS. The Zn-Cdots exhibit superior antibacterial properties in combating Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial strains, specifically <em>Serratia marcescens</em> and <em>Staphylococcus aureus</em> compared to the precursor biomass extract. Additionally, ROS measurements revealed the antioxidant property of Zn-Cdots, while agarose gel electrophoresis studies confirmed that the interaction between pDNA and Zn-Cdots heightened the antibacterial activity of Zn-Cdots. Moreover, the ABTS assay and the TMB assay both validated the antioxidant activity of Zn-Cdots, revealing high efficacy in scavenging free radicals and further highlighting its potential in mitigating oxidative stress alongside potent antibacterial efficacy.</p>","PeriodicalId":74745,"journal":{"name":"RSC sustainability","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2024/su/d4su00439f?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142262088","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}