RSC sustainability最新文献

{"title":"Minimizing oil pollution: a review of current status and its treatment options","authors":"Hansa Muvel, Manoj Kumar Jindal, Pradip Kumar Tewari and Vikky Anand","doi":"10.1039/D5SU00403A","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D5SU00403A","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Oil contamination is a critical issue affecting global water resources, which originates from a variety of sources, including domestic and industrial activities. The situation has been exacerbated by recent incidents, particularly in marine environments. Effective control measures and technologies are essential for minimizing oil pollution. Several factors influence the efficiency of oil–water separation, such as operating conditions, chemical additives, equipment design, and environmental factors. However, current separation methods often face limitations in terms of time consumption, high operational costs, and large system footprints, which constrain their widespread industrial application. This review explores the status of oil pollution and novel ways of interacting with other water contaminants, along with available methods for reducing oil contamination, with a focus on increasing global crude oil production and its environmental impact. Despite existing discharge regulations, accidental spills and other human activities continue to pose significant risks to water resources. This study discusses a range of methods, from traditional screening techniques to cutting-edge processes, such as adsorption, flotation, filtration, chlorination, and activated/triggered infiltration. In addition, this study highlights the current trends and future directions in the treatment of oily wastewater, emphasizing the need for sustainable and effective solutions for the oil industry. Industrial oily wastewater presents significant environmental and health risks, with varying challenges across developed, emerging, and less-income nations. While developed countries have access to advanced technologies, emerging contaminants pose new challenges. Emerging and less income nations struggle with outdated infrastructure and lack regulatory frameworks. Addressing these issues requires an integrated approach to wastewater treatment that combines biological, chemical, and physical methods to enhance both efficiency and sustainability. This study provides detailed informational material to support policymakers in determining future research directions, encourages the scientific community to undertake innovation in new directions, fosters collaborative efforts, and establishes regulations that promote the adoption of sustainable practices.</p>","PeriodicalId":74745,"journal":{"name":"RSC sustainability","volume":" 9","pages":" 3681-3723"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2025/su/d5su00403a?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144909477","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":"Nitro-functionalized imidazolium salts as acidic catalysts for cellulose degradation in ionic liquids","authors":"Flávia C. Sonaglio, Wellington D. G. Gonçalves, Virgínia S. Souza, Cecília A. Silveira and Jackson D. Scholten","doi":"10.1039/D4SU00645C","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D4SU00645C","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Nitro-functionalized imidazolium salts were applied as acidic catalysts for the degradation of cellulose into 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). The catalytic systems based on [NO<small>₂</small>HMIm][X] (X = TsO, Cl, NTf<small>₂</small>, CF<small>₃</small>CO<small>₂</small>), dissolved in [BMIm][Cl], were capable of producing HMF, glucose, fructose, formic acid, and levulinic acid as products of cellulose degradation at 130 °C. In particular, HMF was obtained in up to 17% yield using 10.8 mol% of [NO<small>₂</small>HMIm][TsO], representing one of the most active protic imidazolium salts reported in the literature for the transformation of cellulose under relatively mild conditions. Indeed, this work presents cost-effective and easily synthesized nitro-functionalized imidazolium salts as efficient catalysts for biomass conversion, offering a sustainable alternative to conventional SO<small>₃</small>H-based imidazolium ILs. Therefore, the strategy of modifying the acidity of a protic imidazolium salt by incorporating a nitro group in the imidazolium ring was successfully achieved, as observed in the degradation of cellulose, and can be extended to other acid-catalyzed reactions of biomass-derived compounds.</p>","PeriodicalId":74745,"journal":{"name":"RSC sustainability","volume":" 9","pages":" 4162-4170"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2025/su/d4su00645c?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144909552","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":"Perspective on electrochemical CO2 reduction in CO2/O2 mixed gas","authors":"Xiaoling Lai, Jinxian Feng, Yuxuan Xiao, Weng Fai Ip and Hui Pan","doi":"10.1039/D5SU00334B","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D5SU00334B","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Electrochemical CO<small>₂</small> reduction reaction (CO<small>₂</small>RR) is a promising avenue to realize carbon neutrality. As the high-purity CO<small>₂</small> in CO<small>₂</small>RR may diminish the feasibility and economic viability, the direct conversion of CO<small>₂</small> in O<small>₂</small>-containing feed gas (CO<small>₂</small>/O<small>₂</small>) presents an attractive option. However, high CO<small>₂</small>RR kinetic barriers and the challenges associated with O<small>₂</small> reduction significantly hamper the effectiveness of CO<small>₂</small>RR. Therefore, enhancing the selective CO<small>₂</small>RR in CO<small>₂</small>–O<small>₂</small> mixed gas is critical. In this perspective, we first discuss factors of selective CO<small>₂</small>RR in CO<small>₂</small>/O<small>₂</small>. Then, state-of-the-art interface design strategies for the selective CO<small>₂</small>RR, including O<small>₂</small> passivation, selective CO<small>₂</small> adsorption and direct selective CO<small>₂</small>RR, are highlighted. Finally, a brief discussion on the current challenges and outlook for future directions to achieve highly efficient and O<small>₂</small>-tolerant CO<small>₂</small>RR systems are presented.</p>","PeriodicalId":74745,"journal":{"name":"RSC sustainability","volume":" 10","pages":" 4426-4434"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2025/su/d5su00334b?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145196091","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":"Mechanical, barrier, and photodegradation properties of biodegradable PLA-based blend films","authors":"Ainhoa Fernández-Tena, Jorge L. Olmedo-Martínez, Marcos A. Sabino G., Elizabeth Collinson, Juan V. López, Lourdes Irusta, Alba González, Antxon Martínez de Ilarduya, Gonzalo Guerrica-Echevarria, Nora Aranburu and Alejandro J. Müller","doi":"10.1039/D5SU00454C","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D5SU00454C","url":null,"abstract":"<p >In this work, films based on blends of polylactide (PLA), poly(ε-caprolactone), (PCL), and the compatibilizer ElvaloyPTW were prepared by blown film extrusion; neat PLA was used as a reference material. Adding 30% PCL to PLA resulted in films with decreased modulus, yield strength, and tear resistance. However, when ElvaloyPTW was added to the 70/30 PLA/PCL blend, films featuring high ductility and improved gas barrier properties were achieved. The photodegradation of blown films based on PLA/PCL (100/0/0 and 70/30/0 wt%) and PLA/PCL/c (c = compatibilizer (ElvaloyPTW), 70/30/3 wt%) blends was comprehensively investigated under accelerated conditions using a xenon arc lamp for up to 168 h of UV irradiation. The photo-degraded samples were characterized using gel permeation chromatography (GPC), <small>¹</small>H-NMR, FTIR-ATR, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), polarized light optical microscopy (PLOM), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The results indicate that the photodegradation of PLA/PCL/c films proceeds <em>via</em> a bulk erosion mechanism. This suggests that UV penetrates the specimens with no significant reduction in intensity, irrespective of the polymer blends' chemical structure and crystallinity. PLA and PCL chains were susceptible to photodegradation even within the crystalline regions; however, their photodegradability was lower in the crystals than in the amorphous regions. A significant decrease in molecular weight was observed with photodegradation time. The combined results of FTIR and thermal analysis allowed us to establish that the PLA phase in the blends experiences a much faster degradation rate in the presence of PCL and/or PCL/compatibilizer. Finally, the effect of photodegradation increased the crystallization rate of PLA and affected the morphology of PLA spherulites.</p>","PeriodicalId":74745,"journal":{"name":"RSC sustainability","volume":" 10","pages":" 4622-4631"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2025/su/d5su00454c?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145196139","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":"Biomass-derived carbons and their modification techniques in electrochemical capacitive deionization desalination","authors":"Jin-Jing Jiang, Xue-Jing Ma, Juan Zhou, Ashkar Batol, Huan Gou and Wei-Bin Zhang","doi":"10.1039/D5SU00439J","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D5SU00439J","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Capacitive deionization (CDI), a new electrochemical technique, exhibits excellent desalting performance for removing salt from seawater. The desalting performance mainly depends on the electrode adsorption and desorption processes in CDI devices, which are inseparable from the structure of the electrode material. Traditional porous electrode materials are typically carbon-based, and among these materials, biomass-derived carbon has emerged as a promising candidate owing to its abundant raw material sources, structural tunability, and environmental benignity. In this study, the desalination mechanism and process of CDI are comprehensively expounded, and the advantages and disadvantages of each unit structure of CDI are summarized. This study completely analyzes the entire process of biomass-derived carbon materials from raw material selection, pretreatment of precursors, and preparation of bio-derived carbon to modification, providing a complete technical route. By selecting the appropriate CDI unit structure and combining the preparation and modification technologies of biomass materials, it is expected that electrode materials with economical, environmentally friendly and excellent desalination performance can be designed. In addition, this study focuses on the desalination performance of different biomass-derived carbons under various modification technologies, providing scholars with a comprehensive research perspective on modification technologies.</p>","PeriodicalId":74745,"journal":{"name":"RSC sustainability","volume":" 10","pages":" 4364-4409"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2025/su/d5su00439j?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145196060","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":"Recent advances in sustainable biomass-based aerogels: a review","authors":"Xinyu Yang, Weijia Miao, Xiuhong Sun and Ye-Tang Pan","doi":"10.1039/D5SU00497G","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D5SU00497G","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Biomass-based aerogels are a new type of porous material obtained from biomass raw materials. Compared with traditional inorganic aerogels such as carbide aerogels, oxide aerogels and sulfide aerogels, they have the outstanding advantages of greenness and sustainability, which have attracted more and more attention from researchers. The characteristics of environmental friendliness, presence of surface multi-functional groups and biocompatibility of biomass make them suitable for improving the eco friendliness of traditional flame retardant materials, adsorption of oily pollutants and medical treatment applications. This review mainly provides an introduction to the preparation methods, properties and applications of pure biomass-based aerogels and functionalized and modified biomass-based aerogels. At the same time, it points out the limitations of biomass-based aerogels according to existing research and compares them with traditional aerogels to finally propose innovative ideas for new research directions and industrialization in this field.</p>","PeriodicalId":74745,"journal":{"name":"RSC sustainability","volume":" 10","pages":" 4298-4313"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2025/su/d5su00497g?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145196057","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":"Solar to sustainability (S2S): a comparative life cycle assessment of hydrogen production with a focus on a photoelectrochemical anion exchange membrane reactor","authors":"Vivek Prasad and Farrukh Khalid","doi":"10.1039/D5SU00330J","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D5SU00330J","url":null,"abstract":"<p >This study employs a comparative life cycle assessment to provide data-driven insights into hydrogen production methods, uncovering the environmental impact of steam methane reforming (SMR), wind proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE), solar PV PEMWE, photoelectrochemical (PEC) PEM reactors and PEC anion exchange membrane (AEM) reactors. The assessment employs a cradle-to-gate approach using SimaPro as the LCA software, with data from the ecoinvent database (<em>i.e.</em> v3.8) and published literature. Notably, 1 kg of hydrogen produced is considered a functional unit. Key environmental impacts, including global warming potential, ozone depletion, eutrophication, acidification and water use, are evaluated using the ReCiPe 2016 Midpoint method (H). The results demonstrate that hydrogen production through the PEC AEM reactor has the lowest environmental impact compared to other methods. The PEC AEM reactor shows the lowest global warming potential of 1.17 kg CO<small>₂</small> eq per kg H<small>₂</small> in the comparative LCA study. The highest human carcinogenic toxicity potential (HCTP) of 1.5 kg 1,4 DCB-eq per kg H<small>₂</small> was obtained for the PEC PEM reactor. Wind PEMWE has the highest mineral resource scarcity (MRS) of 0.0839 kg Cu-eq per kg H<small>₂</small> produced as the mining, processing and manufacturing of permanent magnets for wind turbines involve rare earth elements. SMR has the highest value of land use (0.189 m<small>²</small>a crop-eq per kg H<small>₂</small>) due to the large scale facility and infrastructure required in the SMR process. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis is conducted to assess the effect of regional energy supply on the global warming potential (GWP) associated with various hydrogen production methods. This study offers valuable insights highlighting the significance of considering various environmental impacts to facilitate informed decision-making for sustainable design.</p>","PeriodicalId":74745,"journal":{"name":"RSC sustainability","volume":" 10","pages":" 4651-4666"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2025/su/d5su00330j?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145196141","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":"A more sustainable two-step synthesis of alkylated β-cyclodextrin via acetylation and GaBr3-catalyzed reduction","authors":"Leon J. Bartlewski, Peter Conen, Qianyu Cai, Maximilian Bürk, Dominique Armspach and Michael A. R. Meier","doi":"10.1039/D5SU00590F","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D5SU00590F","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Cyclodextrins (CDs) are bio-based and biodegradable oligosaccharides, enzymatically derived from starch, offering low toxicity and renewability, thus representing an interesting renewable feedstock. While chemical modification allows for precise tailoring of their properties, greater emphasis on sustainability aspects of such processes, for instance a reduction of the produced waste and avoidance of toxic substances, should be aimed for. This work thus focuses on a more sustainable and efficient two-step synthetic alternative approach for the alkylation of β-cyclodextrin (β-CD), especially avoiding the typical use of highly toxic alkylating agents. Transesterification using vinyl acetate facilitated a more sustainable acetylation of β-CD, resulting in an <em>E</em>-factor of 2.83 for the overall process. In a subsequent step, the acetylated β-CDs were successfully reduced under mild conditions to ethylated β-CDs (RE-β-CDs) using near-stoichiometric amounts of TMDS and 4 mol% GaBr<small>₃</small> per ester group, whereby also new mechanistic insights were gained. Notably, anisole was introduced as a more benign, bioavailable alternative to the traditionally used hazardous solvents (<em>e.g.</em> dichloromethane, chloroform). Herein, we present the synthesized RE-β-CDs, which exhibited properties comparable to methylated analogues, including solubility (H<small>₂</small>O, MeOH, EtOH, DMSO), thermal stability (TGA/DSC), and host–guest interactions, as confirmed by 2D DOSY and ROESY NMR spectroscopy. Overall, this study establishes a more environmentally friendly access to alkylated β-CDs without compromising characteristic properties of conventionally synthesized methylated CDs, offering a generally more sustainable alternative approach.</p>","PeriodicalId":74745,"journal":{"name":"RSC sustainability","volume":" 9","pages":" 4126-4136"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2025/su/d5su00590f?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144909563","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":"Methanolysis of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) using non-stoichiometric protic ionic liquids","authors":"Emma McCrea, Peter Goodrich, John D. Holbrey and Małgorzata Swadźba-Kwaśny","doi":"10.1039/D5SU00316D","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D5SU00316D","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Methanolysis of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) to dimethyl terephthalate (DMT), carried out in a microwave reactor, was catalysed by an inexpensive and recyclable non-stoichiometric protic ionic liquid, formulated from sulfuric acid and triethylamine. The influence of the catalyst composition (excess of acid or base), reaction temperature and time, as well as methanol excess, on the conversion of PET and the yield of DMT, was investigated. Under optimised conditions (3 h, 180 °C), waste PET from milled plastic bottles was depolymerised, reaching 100% PET conversion and 98% isolated yield of DMT. Pure DMT was separated through recrystallisation directly from the reaction mixture. Preliminary experiments with carpet waste (dyed mixed polymer waste, without milling) gave results on par with those achieved for PET bottles, with 100% PET conversion and 97% of DMT (isolated yield).</p>","PeriodicalId":74745,"journal":{"name":"RSC sustainability","volume":" 9","pages":" 3987-3996"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2025/su/d5su00316d?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144909544","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":"Sustainable removal of malachite green using cellulose extracted from waste bamboo culm sheath","authors":"Diptiranjan Behera, Priyanka P. Mishra, Shruti S. Pattnaik, Nigamananda Das, Jagadish Kumar and Ajaya K. Behera","doi":"10.1039/D5SU00133A","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D5SU00133A","url":null,"abstract":"<p >The sustainable utilization of waste biomass for wastewater treatment aligns with the principles of green chemistry and the circular economy. In this study, cellulose was extracted from waste bamboo culm sheath (BCS) and evaluated as a renewable and reusable adsorbent for removing malachite green (MG) from aqueous solutions. Dynamic light scattering confirmed a cellulose size of 108 nm, while structural and morphological analyses were conducted using X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, FT-IR, and atomic force microscopy. The adsorption process was pH-dependent, with optimal removal of 92.8% MG (20 mg L<small>⁻¹</small>) within 120 minutes. Kinetic studies indicated pseudo-first-order behavior, and the Langmuir isotherm model estimated a maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of 111.11 mg g<small>⁻¹</small>. Reusability tests demonstrated over 80% removal efficiency up to four cycles, supporting its long-term application. This study presents an eco-friendly approach to wastewater remediation, demonstrating the potential of BCS-derived cellulose as a sustainable adsorbent for dye removal, contributing to responsible resource utilization and environmental protection.</p>","PeriodicalId":74745,"journal":{"name":"RSC sustainability","volume":" 10","pages":" 4583-4597"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2025/su/d5su00133a?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145196137","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}