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Environmental Catalysis and Green Chemistry
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Environmental Catalysis and Green Chemistry

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Chemical and Molecular Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 May 2025 | Viewed by 7120

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Fabrizio Medici

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milano, Italy
Interests: photocatalysis; flow chemistry; synthesis of chiral molecules; electrochemical organic chemistry; organometallic catalysis
Dr. Laura Maria Raimondi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milano, Italy
Interests: organic synthesis; asymmetric catalysis; reaction mechanisms; carbohydrates; chirality

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the last decade, we have witnessed the growing impact of the environmental crisis that has been neglected for too long. Making and sustaining efforts towards a more sustainable future is thus more urgent than ever.

Chemistry has always played a predominant role in the development of human society in terms of drug synthesis, material development, agrochemicals, energy, food preservation, etc., but today, it must also play a crucial role in finding new environmentally friendly methodologies and strategies, a field termed green chemistry.

This Special Issue is dedicated to the latest achievements in green and environmental chemistry with a particular focus on catalytic methodologies and their application in different areas.

This Special Issue will focus not only on the development of new catalytic methodologies on the lab scale but also their applications at the industrial level and in environmental studies.

Dr. Fabrizio Medici
Dr. Laura Maria Raimondi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • green chemistry
  • environmental chemistry
  • catalysis
  • industrial applications
  • sustainable chemistry

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 7540 KiB  
Article
The Effect of Heat Treatment on the Sol–Gel Preparation of TiO2/ZnO Catalysts and Their Testing in the Photodegradation of Tartrazine
by Nina Kaneva and Albena Bachvarova-Nedelcheva
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(21), 9872; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14219872 - 29 Oct 2024
Viewed by 790
Abstract
This study aims to synthesize TiO2/ZnO powders and to study the effect of heat treatment on their photocatalytic ability against the Tartrazine anionic dye. The as-obtained powders with the following compositions—90TiO2/10ZnO and 10TiO2/90ZnO (mol%)—were obtained by the [...] Read more.
This study aims to synthesize TiO2/ZnO powders and to study the effect of heat treatment on their photocatalytic ability against the Tartrazine anionic dye. The as-obtained powders with the following compositions—90TiO2/10ZnO and 10TiO2/90ZnO (mol%)—were obtained by the sol–gel technique. The prepared gels were annealed at 500 °C and 700 °C and subsequently characterized by XRD, UV–Vis, and SEM methods. The single crystalline phase of TiO2, which has been detected at up to 500 °C is anatase, while for ZnO, it is the hexagonal wurtzite structure. Further increases in the temperature (700 °C) led to the appearance of rutile in the samples. The SEM analysis demonstrated that the binary oxide materials had irregular shaped particles with a tendency to agglomerate. The UV–Vis spectra of the gels exhibited a red shift in the cut-off of the 90TiO2/10ZnO sample compared with pure Ti(IV) butoxide. Photocatalytic tests showed that the investigated samples possessed photocatalytic activity toward Tartrazine. Compared with TiO2, the prepared TiO2/ZnO photocatalysts showed superior properties in the photodegradation of a Tartrazine water solution. The target photocatalysts’ enhanced photocatalytic activities can be explained by their reduced band gap energy, improved surface physicochemical characteristics, separation of photo-induced electron–hole pairs, and lowered recombination rate. Higher photocatalytic activity was observed for powders annealed at 500 °C, with the 10TiO2/90ZnO (mol%) sample exhibiting the highest photocatalytic degradation of the used organic dye. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Catalysis and Green Chemistry)
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11 pages, 1554 KiB  
Article
Improving the Phosphatase-Catalyzed Synthesis of 5′-Nucleotides: A Reaction Engineering Approach
by Marina S. Robescu, Teodora Bavaro, Fabrizio Medici, Giovanna Speranza, Daniela Ubiali and Marco Rabuffetti
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(14), 6227; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14146227 - 17 Jul 2024
Viewed by 1227
Abstract
5′-Phosphorylation of nucleosides is a reaction as important in nature and in industry as it is cumbersome to be performed. Whilst chemical phosphorylation relies on the use of harsh reagents, solvents, and conditions, as well as on the need for protection–deprotection steps, biocatalysis [...] Read more.
5′-Phosphorylation of nucleosides is a reaction as important in nature and in industry as it is cumbersome to be performed. Whilst chemical phosphorylation relies on the use of harsh reagents, solvents, and conditions, as well as on the need for protection–deprotection steps, biocatalysis can be a tool to achieve one-step phosphorylation reactions, which are selective, protecting group-free, and occurring under mild and sustainable conditions. In this work, the wild-type non-specific acid phosphatase from Morganella morganii (PhoC-Mm) was expressed, purified, and used for the synthesis of inosine 5′-monophosphate (IMP), an important food additive, by using pyrophosphate (PPi) as an inexpensive phosphate donor in a fully aqueous medium at 30 °C. Via the fine-tuning of the reaction set-up taking into account the type of buffer, amount of PPi, mode/time of PPi addition, and enzyme and substrate concentration, PhoC-Mm could be used for catalyzing the phosphorylation of inosine (I) to IMP in a good yield and high purity (62% yield). The catalysis of the hydrolytic reaction direction, which is the primary function of phosphatases in nature, was here reversed to a certain extent by a reaction engineering approach, without the need for protein engineering strategies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Catalysis and Green Chemistry)
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12 pages, 1788 KiB  
Article
Production of Transportation Fuels from Fischer–Tropsch Waxes: Distillation, Blending, and Hydrocracking
by Jakub Frątczak, Joanna Górska, Martin Babor, Zahra Gholami, José Miguel Hidalgo Herrador and Héctor de Paz Carmona
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(11), 4656; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14114656 - 28 May 2024
Viewed by 1303
Abstract
Nowadays, transportation fuels such as diesel or gasoline are standardly produced from crude oil refining. These petroleum-based products are gradually replaced by more environmentally friendly sources, such as Fischer–Tropsch diesel fractions and other biofuels. The present work reports the distillation of Fischer–Tropsch (FTS) [...] Read more.
Nowadays, transportation fuels such as diesel or gasoline are standardly produced from crude oil refining. These petroleum-based products are gradually replaced by more environmentally friendly sources, such as Fischer–Tropsch diesel fractions and other biofuels. The present work reports the distillation of Fischer–Tropsch (FTS) waxes and its use for fuel production by (i) blending the FTS wax diesel fraction with fossil diesel (7:93; 15:85; 30:70; and 50:50 wt.%) and (ii) blending the FTS wax heavy fraction (360–700 °C) with vacuum gas oil (10–50 wt.%) followed by hydrocracking at industrial operating conditions (T = 420 °C, WHSV = 0.5–1.0 h−1, P = 10.0 MPa). The obtained products in both cases were analysed and compared with standard EN590 for petroleum-diesel fuels. Overall, our results point to the suitability of the distillation of FTS waxes for renewable fuel production, either by straight blending of the diesel petroleum-based products or co-hydrocracking of the heavy fraction with vacuum gas oil. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Catalysis and Green Chemistry)
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13 pages, 4211 KiB  
Article
Influence of Non-Ionic Surfactant and Silver on the Photocatalytic Activity of TiO2 Films for Degradation of Dyes in Distilled and Tap Water
by Dobrina Ivanova, Elisaveta Mladenova and Nina Kaneva
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(11), 4571; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14114571 - 26 May 2024
Viewed by 1277
Abstract
This study describes the impact of surfactant molecular weights (PEG 2000 and PEG 4000) on the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 films, deposited via dip-coating from a PEG-stabilized suspension and silver-functionalized photo-fixation of Ag+ under UV illumination. The photocatalytic activity of pure [...] Read more.
This study describes the impact of surfactant molecular weights (PEG 2000 and PEG 4000) on the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 films, deposited via dip-coating from a PEG-stabilized suspension and silver-functionalized photo-fixation of Ag+ under UV illumination. The photocatalytic activity of pure and Ag/TiO2 films is assessed in the aqueous-phase degradation of Malachite green and Methylene blue in distilled and tap water under UV and visible illumination. The results indicate a positive effect of both the higher-molecular-weight non-ionic surfactant and Ag-functionalization yield higher photocatalytic efficiency. Notably, films photo-fixed with 10−2 M Ag+ show the highest degradation percentages in all experimental conditions. A direct correlation between the concentration of Ag+ ions and the enhancement of the photocatalytic activity is revealed: pure TiO2 < Ag, 10−4/TiO2 < Ag, 10−3/TiO2 < Ag, 10−2/TiO2. Flame atomic absorption spectrometry is used to study the Ag+ leeching from the Ag/TiO2 films. The structural properties of the nanostructures are investigated through scanning electron microscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analysis, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. Additionally, after three cycles of operation, Ag, 10−2/TiO2 (PEG 4000) films can maintain their photocatalytic activity, suggesting a potential application in the treatment of dye wastewater. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Catalysis and Green Chemistry)
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Review

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27 pages, 4284 KiB  
Review
Microbial and Enzymatic Biodegradation of Plastic Waste for a Circular Economy
by Muhammad Aitzaz Akram, Rangasamy Savitha, Gemma K. Kinsella, Kieran Nolan, Barry J. Ryan and Gary T. Henehan
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(24), 11942; https://doi.org/10.3390/app142411942 - 20 Dec 2024
Viewed by 1563
Abstract
Plastics play a crucial role in modern life, but their accumulation poses a serious threat to both the environment and human health. Due to their effects on the terrestrial and aquatic environment, it is essential to develop sustainable approaches to dispose of waste [...] Read more.
Plastics play a crucial role in modern life, but their accumulation poses a serious threat to both the environment and human health. Due to their effects on the terrestrial and aquatic environment, it is essential to develop sustainable approaches to dispose of waste plastics. Traditional methods of plastic disposal, such as burning and landfilling, are problematic since they produce hazardous byproducts. Biodegradation is a potentially effective, eco-friendly approach which uses microbial consortia or isolated enzymes to break down plastic waste. Enzymes interact with plastic surfaces and hydrolyse the large polymer chains into smaller units. These byproducts can then be utilised as carbon sources by microbes, which are eventually converted into CO2 and water. This review explores the principal approaches to plastic degradation, with a focus on existing and emerging polymers made to be readily biodegradable. In addition, sustainable valorisation methods for converting plastic waste into valuable byproducts are considered. The implementation of a circular plastic economy is expected to lead to further development, including scaling up of efficient plastic bio-upcycling processes, which can serve to stimulate environmental waste removal and value-added use of post-consumer plastic streams. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Catalysis and Green Chemistry)
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