RSC sustainability最新文献

{"title":"Integrating green and sustainable chemistry into high school: contributions of instructional model-based teaching to enhance students' critical reflective thinking","authors":"Carlos Alberto da Silva Júnior, Leonardo Victor Marcelino, Gildo Girotto Júnior, Dosil Pereira de Jesus and Carlos Alberto Marques","doi":"10.1039/D5SU00964B","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D5SU00964B","url":null,"abstract":"<p >The integration of Green and Sustainable Chemistry Education (GSCE) into high school fosters students' critical reflection on socio-environmental issues. This study examines how multimodal teaching activities designed around pedagogical models contribute to the development of critically reflective students. A qualitative research design was employed. Instructional model-based activities within the GSCE were implemented with 26 high school students enrolled in a chemistry course at a rural school in Brazil. The students worked in small groups to participate in instructional, reflective, and experimental activities, including a case study (CS) focused on socio-scientific issues related to local water scarcity. Data were collected using multiple instruments, including a CS, classroom observations, and students' written responses. The results indicate that these activities support students' ability to critically analyze environmental problems, recognize their complexity, and reflect on the interrelationships among science, technology, and society. However, limitations were observed regarding students' self-awareness and the translation of critical reflection into behavioral intention, with responsibility often attributed primarily to governmental actors. These findings align with previous studies reporting challenges in achieving sustained engagement in sustainable practices. Overall, the study underscores the role of instructional models in structuring the integration of GSCE in secondary education and in fostering critical reflection, while highlighting the need for pedagogical strategies that further strengthen students' active participation in sustainability.</p>","PeriodicalId":74745,"journal":{"name":"RSC sustainability","volume":" 5","pages":" 2185-2197"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2026/su/d5su00964b?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147924022","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":"Correction: A facile approach towards recycling of polyurethane coated PET fabrics","authors":"Meenakshisundaram Vaishali, Sathyaraj Gopal and Kalarical Janardhanan Sreeram","doi":"10.1039/D6SU90020H","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D6SU90020H","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Correction for ‘A facile approach towards recycling of polyurethane coated PET fabrics’ by Meenakshisundaram Vaishali <em>et al.</em>, <em>RSC Sustainability</em>, 2024, <strong>2</strong>, 2324–2334, https://doi.org/10.1039/D5SU90067K.</p>","PeriodicalId":74745,"journal":{"name":"RSC sustainability","volume":" 5","pages":" 2430-2430"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2026/su/d6su90020h?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147923996","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":"Analysis of carbon capture strategies for refineries considering extraordinary future economic and policy uncertainties","authors":"Fang Li, Liang Jing, Sean McCoy, Sara Hastings-Simon and Joule Bergerson","doi":"10.1039/D5SU00853K","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D5SU00853K","url":null,"abstract":"<p >The shifting transportation landscape, driven primarily by the electrification of the vehicle fleet and tightening carbon regulations, is reshaping the market for liquid fuels and challenging many existing refineries. Strategic decisions about carbon mitigation investments, such as carbon capture and storage (CCS), are complicated by uncertainty in evolving fuel markets and regulatory frameworks. This study assesses the cost-effectiveness and the opportunity of deploying CCS within the refining sector in the United States amidst a transitioning transportation fuel market and increasingly stringent carbon pricing policies. By integrating a carbon capture module into the Petroleum Refinery Life Cycle Inventory Model (PRELIM), we assess greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under various fuel demand scenarios and examine the role of CCS in mitigation. Our findings indicate that the annual GHG emissions from U.S. refineries may decline from 212 MtCO<small>₂</small>eq per year in 2019 to 111 MtCO<small>₂</small>eq per year in 2050 due to demand shifts, while CCS could further reduce emissions to 47.6 MtCO<small>₂</small>eq per year. Fluid Catalytic Crackers (FCCs) are the most significant emissions source, with a potential reduction of 18.5 MtCO<small>₂</small>eq per year at a CO<small>₂</small> avoidance cost as low as $83.5 per t. We also conduct a real options (RO) analysis to explore how refineries might respond to fuel market changes and carbon pricing. Results suggest hydroskimming refineries could be phased out by the early 2030s due to market and policy pressures, while medium and deep conversion refineries may accelerate CCS deployment by the 2040s. Hence, policy should enable CCS deployment as a transitional mitigation strategy while maintaining consistency with long-term decarbonization pathways.</p>","PeriodicalId":74745,"journal":{"name":"RSC sustainability","volume":" 6","pages":" 2621-2635"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2026/su/d5su00853k?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148214956","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":"The potential for systems thinking as an approach for evaluating false science information","authors":"Alisha R. Szozda, Peter G. Mahaffy and Alison B. Flynn","doi":"10.1039/D5SU00901D","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D5SU00901D","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Misinformation and disinformation pose serious global risks, undermining public trust in science and hindering progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The rapid spread of information through social media and generative artificial intelligence highlights the need for education to help learners develop the capacity to critically evaluate scientific claims. This perspective proposes systems thinking (ST) as a promising pedagogical approach for empowering students to evaluate inaccurate scientific information and may be particularly useful for unpacking false claims about global challenges. ST has the potential to enable learners to recognize interconnections among components of complex global challenges so that they can reason about scientific information holistically (<em>e.g.</em>, social, political, and environmental). However, ST is largely unexplored for this purpose. In this perspective, we provide a sustainability-focused pedagogical rationale for implementing ST to evaluate inaccurate scientific information and provide direction for future educational research on this topic, as no empirical evidence was collected. Empirical validation of this hypothesis is urgently required, as combating false information is essential to protecting science and accelerating progress toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We encourage science educators and science education researchers to explore how ST might help evaluate inaccurate scientific information. To facilitate this exploration, we provide a background of the current work that may complement future investigations, give specific examples of how ST may be applied to evaluate false information, and suggest potential research questions. Empowering future scientists and citizens to critically engage with information is essential not only for navigating false information but also for contributing to a more sustainable, informed society.</p>","PeriodicalId":74745,"journal":{"name":"RSC sustainability","volume":" 6","pages":" 2538-2545"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2026/su/d5su00901d?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148214949","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":"Green metrics-guided redesign of cheese whey permeate upcycling via biocatalysis","authors":"Lorenza Cassano, Lorenzo Pasotti, Michela Casanova, Debora Dallera, Paolo Magni, Andrés R. Alcántara, Daniela Ubiali and Marina S. Robescu","doi":"10.1039/D6SU00180G","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D6SU00180G","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Valorizing industrial side-streams through (bio)catalysis can contribute to the transition toward circular manufacturing by implementing sustainable and effective waste-to-value processes. In this study, cheese whey permeate, an abundant effluent of the dairy industry, was upcycled into the hydrophilic headgroup 1-butyl β-<small>D</small>-galactopyranoside of sugar fatty acid ester surfactants <em>via</em> enzymatic transglycosylation. This biotransformation was systematically redesigned by using a comprehensive green metrics-guided approach to enhance process sustainability, while ensuring operational simplicity and scalability. By moving from a homogeneous ternary reaction medium to a biphasic system and replacing flash chromatography with a streamlined downstream process involving liquid–liquid extraction and a recyclable hydrophobic resin, the process was successfully scaled-up to 1.5 L yielding the product on the gram-scale. Process redesign resulted in 8-fold reduction of (Environmental)-factor, about 60-fold improvement of solvent eco-impact, and 27-fold decrease in global warming potential (GWP). Moreover, the redesigned process enabled closed-loop material flows facilitating the direct recovery and recycling of materials (1-BuOH and the hydrophobic resin) within the same reaction unit. Finally, the recovered sugar-enriched aqueous stream from the enzymatic transglycosylation was reused as a nutrient-rich growth medium for microbial cultivation, paving the way for a future highly integrated biomanufacturing framework.</p>","PeriodicalId":74745,"journal":{"name":"RSC sustainability","volume":" 5","pages":" 2222-2231"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2026/su/d6su00180g?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147924025","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":"Mechanistic insights into hydroxynaphthoic acid-based suppression of lignin repolymerization","authors":"Chenhao Li, Matthias Alexander Ulrich Eckl, Pascal Fitz, Thomas Pielhop and Sergio Vernuccio","doi":"10.1039/D5SU00841G","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D5SU00841G","url":null,"abstract":"<p >As a renewable biomass resource, lignocellulose holds significant potential for the production of chemicals and fuels, due to its vast availability and low cost. However, its complex and chemically stable structure poses a major challenge to its efficient utilization. Acidic pretreatment methods (including autohydrolysis) are widely employed to improve the conversion efficiency of lignocellulose into valuable chemicals. While the acidic environment promotes the breakdown of the lignocellulose structure, facilitating its (bio)chemical conversion, it also induces lignin repolymerization reactions, thereby hindering the pretreatment and further valorisation of cellulose and lignin. The use of carbocation scavengers to cap reactive sites (carbocations) formed during the pretreatment process in lignin, has recently proven to be an effective method for mitigating these issues. Therefore, the discovery and evaluation of effective scavengers has emerged as a key research focus in lignocellulose valorisation. In this study, we investigate the performance of three hydroxynaphthoic acid isomers – 3-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid, 6-hydroxy-1-naphthoic acid, and 6-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid – as potential scavengers for suppressing lignin repolymerization. Fukui function calculations were employed to determine the most favourable nucleophilic sites within each compound. In addition, the acid-catalysed dehydration and cation scavenging processes were simulated using a representative lignin cluster model. Our results demonstrate that the binding interactions between the scavengers and the lignin-derived carbocations at favorable active sites play a critical role in suppressing repolymerization. Among the hydroxynaphthoic acid tested, 3-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid exhibited the strongest binding affinity with the lignin carbocation (−16.8 kJ mol<small>⁻¹</small>) and the most significant scavenging effect. This result was further validated experimentally, by studying the consumption of the three hydroxynaphthoic acids and their effect on the lignocellulose structure in the autohydrolysis pretreatment of spruce wood. Among the investigated scavengers, 3-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid showed the lowest recovery (2%) after pretreatment at 210 °C, indicating its high reactivity. Moreover, evaluation of the scavenger effect on lignocellulose enzymatic digestibility revealed that 3-hydroxy-2-naphthoic resulted in the highest glucose yield.</p>","PeriodicalId":74745,"journal":{"name":"RSC sustainability","volume":" 5","pages":" 2396-2409"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-04-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13094718/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147791714","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":"Enhanced plant growth and harvestable yield through fluorescent copper-based composites","authors":"Konstantinos T. Kotoulas, Thomas Hinton, Ethan Macallister, Jai Ram, John D. Wallis, Yunhong Jiang, Andrew D. Burrows, Gareth W. V. Cave and Ming Xie","doi":"10.1039/D5SU00947B","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D5SU00947B","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Improving crop productivity without increasing land, energy or chemical inputs is a critical challenge for sustainable agriculture, and spectral conversion materials that transform underutilized ultraviolet radiation into photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) offer a promising solution. Here, we report copper-based luminescent composites that enable wavelength-selective spectral reshaping and evaluate their physiological impact on <em>Raphanus sativus</em> grown under controlled greenhouse conditions. Three complementary materials were developed: melt-quenched glass composites incorporating the copper iodide clusters [Cu<small>₄</small>I<small>₄</small>(PPh<small>₃</small>)<small>₄</small>] and [Cu<small>₄</small>I<small>₄</small>(PPh<small>₂</small>Et)<small>₄</small>], and flexible cellulose acetate films embedded with copper-carbon nanoassemblies (Cu-CNAs), producing blue-green, yellow, and blue emissions, respectively, within the PAR window. Plant trials revealed clear wavelength dependent responses, with blue and blue-green emission accelerating early foliar expansion, while prolonged exposure to the yellow emitting [Cu<small>₄</small>I<small>₄</small>(PPh<small>₂</small>Et)<small>₄</small>] composite delivered the highest final biomass and significantly increased chlorophyll, carotenoid and ascorbic acid content, indicative of enhanced carbon assimilation and photoprotective metabolism. These results demonstrate that copper-based luminescent composites provide a scalable, low-cost and sustainable platform for spectral optimization in controlled environment agriculture, offering a practical materials driven strategy to improve both crop yield and nutritional quality.</p>","PeriodicalId":74745,"journal":{"name":"RSC sustainability","volume":" 5","pages":" 2389-2395"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2026/su/d5su00947b?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147923994","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":"Large scale valorization of steel slag combined with membrane-based direct air capture for carbon mineralization: a techno-economic evaluation","authors":"Vitor Gama, Kyle Shank, Madison Morgan, Owen Gerdes, Savannah Sakhai, Fernando V. Lima, Shang Zhai and Oishi Sanyal","doi":"10.1039/D5SU00924C","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D5SU00924C","url":null,"abstract":"<p >The removal of carbon dioxide (CO<small>₂</small>) from the atmosphere and from hard-to-abate industrial processes such as steel production remains a significant challenge for meeting climate goals. Progressive studies on membrane-based direct air capture (m-DAC) have emerged to propose this technology as a promising option for addressing legacy emissions. Previous studies discussed computational techniques that can search for favorable operational regions and suitable membrane material properties that give satisfactory CO<small>₂</small> capture performance and system energy efficiency. The combination of operability studies with membrane modeling and simulation represented a novel pathway to investigate fundamental material/process parameters tied to large-scale metrics. In this work, we explore a two-fold approach aiming to intensify CO<small>₂</small> capture and utilization: (i) capturing CO<small>₂</small> from ambient air (425 ppm) using m-DAC and concentrating it (25–50) times, and (ii) treating steel slags through CO<small>₂</small> mineralization for the synthesis of cementitious materials. Each process was initially investigated separately, and their integration was then analyzed based on the overall technoeconomic viability and CO<small>₂</small> removal efficiency per ton captured. The m-DAC process provides a low-purity (1–2%) CO<small>₂</small> stream suitable for combination with mineralization. Slag-water CO<small>₂</small> mineralization using 1% and 2% CO<small>₂</small> achieves conversion rates of 55.4% and 43.3%, respectively, producing carbonated slag. Additionally, the slag can be reacted with steam to yield 16.99 std. ml H<small>₂</small> per gram, utilizing waste heat from steelmaking. This dual process enables revenue generation from both H<small>₂</small> production and carbonated slag, which can be sold as a supplementary cementitious material.</p>","PeriodicalId":74745,"journal":{"name":"RSC sustainability","volume":" 5","pages":" 2250-2263"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2026/su/d5su00924c?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147924039","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":"CO2-mediated conversion of furfuryl alcohol to 4-hydroxycyclopentanone and its toxicological assessment","authors":"Ana Franco, Marie Garcia, K. De Oliveira Vigier, Julien Vignard, Isabelle P. Oswald, Frédéric Guegan, Gladys Mirey and François Jérôme","doi":"10.1039/D6SU00193A","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D6SU00193A","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Through a combined chemical-toxicological study, this report re-explores the Piancatelli rearrangement of furfuryl alcohol into 4-hydroxycyclopentenone (<strong>4-HCP</strong>), a key building block for the synthesis of bio-based solvents. In this context, we demonstrate that (1) in aqueous media, the addition of CO<small>₂</small> results in a fivefold increase in the rate of the Piancatelli rearrangement of furfuryl alcohol to <strong>4-HCP</strong>, even at temperatures as low as 120 °C, and (2) <strong>4-HCP</strong> exhibits pronounced cyto- and genotoxicity, approximately 200 times higher than that of furfural. Based on these results, we recommend avoiding the isolation of <strong>4-HCP</strong> and instead converting it <em>in situ</em> into cyclopentanone or cyclopentanol, two identified safer downstream target chemicals through toxicological studies.</p>","PeriodicalId":74745,"journal":{"name":"RSC sustainability","volume":" 5","pages":" 2117-2122"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2026/su/d6su00193a?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147923988","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":"Integrating physical chemistry and sustainability: an educational study of linear and non-linear adsorption isotherms using chitosan in wastewater remediation","authors":"Tanishka Chauhan, Santunu Barua and Alexandre H. Pinto","doi":"10.1039/D5SU00960J","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D5SU00960J","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Water scarcity is an escalating global challenge. Addressing this issue requires not only technological solutions but also educational strategies that integrate sustainability into chemistry curricula. Herein, we report the design and implementation of a two-session undergraduate Physical Chemistry laboratory experiment focused on the adsorption of the synthetic food dye tartrazine onto chitosan, a sustainable biopolymer. The experiment contextualizes adsorption thermodynamics within wastewater remediation and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation). Students investigated adsorption equilibrium by measuring tartrazine uptake over a range of initial concentrations at two temperatures (25 and 50 °C). Equilibrium data were analyzed using both linear and non-linear forms of the Temkin adsorption isotherm, enabling a critical comparison of modeling approaches commonly used in the adsorption literature. Apparent thermodynamic parameters (Δ<em>H</em><small>_app</small>, Δ<em>G</em><small>_app</small>, and Δ<em>S</em><small>_app</small>) are derived from the temperature dependence of the Temkin isotherm constant, providing a quantitative link between experimental data and thermodynamic theory. This laboratory activity emphasizes the physical meaning and limitations of linearized models while introducing non-linear regression methods that are often underrepresented in undergraduate instruction.</p>","PeriodicalId":74745,"journal":{"name":"RSC sustainability","volume":" 5","pages":" 2175-2184"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2026/su/d5su00960j?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147924021","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}