Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
6.8
3.3
Journals
Sustainability
Special Issues
Conversion of Residual Biomass into Valuable Carbon-Based Materials
sustainability-logo
Submit to Sustainability Review for Sustainability Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

► Journal Menu

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser
share announcement

Conversion of Residual Biomass into Valuable Carbon-Based Materials

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Chemical Engineering and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2021) | Viewed by 10001

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Maurizio Volpe

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Kore University of Enna, Cittadella Universitaria, 94100 Enna, Italy
Interests: thermochemical conversion of residual biomass into solid biofuel and activated carbon materials for environmental remediation; hydrothermal carbonization; pyrolysis; gasification; activated carbons; water remediation, nutrient recovery from residual biomass
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Antonio Messineo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, University of Enna Kore, Cittadella Universitaria, 94100 Enna, Italy
Interests: renewable energies; energy efficiency; energy planning; environmental impact; sustainable engineering; energy efficiency in building; urban planning
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The unstoppable rise of urban population and the corresponding increase of waste biomass production, together with more stringent environmental regulations on waste management, pose overwhelming challenges to the world. Indeed, it is of paramount importance to assure access to affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy for all, while limiting or avoiding environmental consequences due to the massive increase of waste produced and its associated risks related to management and disposal. By understanding how residual biomass can be efficiently and safely converted and used as renewable sources of green energy and valuable environmentally friendly materials that can help us battle global warming, we enable the mitigation of our negative impact on the environment. At the same time, we lead the way to widespread access to sustainable energy for all, while increasing the recovery of nutrients to avoid desertification and produce advanced carbon-based materials (i.e., activated bio-carbons) for environmental remediation. In this context, residual biomass represents a source that is relatively free of political control, universally available on an annually renewal basis, and environmentally clean. Exploitation of residual biomass, via innovative thermal, thermochemical, and biological processes, to produce sustainable carbon-based materials such as bio-fuels, advanced carbon materials, fertilizer, and so on, will trigger beneficial actions for the development of a circular economy. The development of affordable, reliable, easily accessible, environmentally clean biomass conversion technologies is still an open concern. This Special Issue aims to bring together all the recent advances in the field, with particular regard to those ensuring, according to the circular economy approach, carbon-neutral biomass conversion technologies.

The focus of this Special Issue is on the biological and thermochemical conversion of biomass for the production of bio-based carbon materials for energy applications (bio-fuels, energy storage materials, electrodic materials) and the production of activated carbons for environmental remediation and recovery of nutrients (phosphorous and nitrogen, in particular). The aim of this Special Issue is to provide an overview of the knowledge of the state of the art in this field of residual biomass conversion to produce valuable carbon-based materials.

Prof. Dr. Maurizio Volpe
Prof. Dr. Antonio Messineo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Sustainability 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

  • residual biomass
  • biofuels
  • hydrothermal carbonization
  • pyrolysis
  • gasification
  • soil amendments
  • activated carbon
  • environmental remediation
  • nutrient recovery

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

15 pages, 1827 KiB  
Article
Industrial-Scale Hydrothermal Carbonization of Agro-Industrial Digested Sludge: Filterability Enhancement and Phosphorus Recovery
by Michela Lucian, Fabio Merzari, Michele Gubert, Antonio Messineo and Maurizio Volpe
Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 9343; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13169343 - 20 Aug 2021
Cited by 38 | Viewed by 4610
Abstract
Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) provides an attractive alternative method for the treatment of high-moisture waste and, in particular, digested sludge. HTC could reduce the costs and environmental risks associated with sludge handling and management. Although it is recognized that the dewaterability of hydrochars produced [...] Read more.
Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) provides an attractive alternative method for the treatment of high-moisture waste and, in particular, digested sludge. HTC could reduce the costs and environmental risks associated with sludge handling and management. Although it is recognized that the dewaterability of hydrochars produced from digested sludge, even at mild temperatures (180–190 °C), is highly improved with respect to the starting material, the filterability of HTC slurries for the recovery of the solid material (hydrochar) still represents a challenge. This study presents the results of an investigation into the filterability of agro-industrial digested sludge HTC slurries produced by a C-700 CarboremTM HTC industrial-scale plant. The filterability of HTC slurries, produced at 190 °C for 1 h, with the use of acid solutions of hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid or citric acids, was investigated by using a semi-industrial filter press. The use of sulfuric acid or citric acid solutions, in particular, significantly improved the filterability of HTC slurries, reducing the time of filtration and residual moisture content. The acid treatment also promoted the migration of heavy metals and phosphorus (P) in the HTC filtrate solution. This study demonstrates that P can be recovered via the precipitation of struvite in high yields, recovering up to 85 wt% by mass of its initial P content. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Conversion of Residual Biomass into Valuable Carbon-Based Materials)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

18 pages, 860 KiB  
Review
Synopsis of Factors Affecting Hydrogen Storage in Biomass-Derived Activated Carbons
by Al Ibtida Sultana, Nepu Saha and M. Toufiq Reza
Sustainability 2021, 13(4), 1947; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13041947 - 11 Feb 2021
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 4779
Abstract
Hydrogen (H2) is largely regarded as a potential cost-efficient clean fuel primarily due to its beneficial properties, such as its high energy content and sustainability. With the rising demand for H2 in the past decades and its favorable characteristics as [...] Read more.
Hydrogen (H2) is largely regarded as a potential cost-efficient clean fuel primarily due to its beneficial properties, such as its high energy content and sustainability. With the rising demand for H2 in the past decades and its favorable characteristics as an energy carrier, the escalating USA consumption of pure H2 can be projected to reach 63 million tons by 2050. Despite the tremendous potential of H2 generation and its widespread application, transportation and storage of H2 have remained the major challenges of a sustainable H2 economy. Various efforts have been undertaken by storing H2 in activated carbons, metal organic frameworks (MOFs), covalent organic frameworks (COFs), etc. Recently, the literature has been stressing the need to develop biomass-based activated carbons as an effective H2 storage material, as these are inexpensive adsorbents with tunable chemical, mechanical, and morphological properties. This article reviews the current research trends and perspectives on the role of various properties of biomass-based activated carbons on its H2 uptake capacity. The critical aspects of the governing factors of H2 storage, namely, the surface morphology (specific surface area, pore volume, and pore size distribution), surface functionality (heteroatom and functional groups), physical condition of H2 storage (temperature and pressure), and thermodynamic properties (heat of adsorption and desorption), are discussed. A comprehensive survey of the literature showed that an “ideal” biomass-based activated carbon sorbent with a micropore size typically below 10 Å, micropore volume greater than 1.5 cm3/g, and high surface area of 4000 m2/g or more may help in substantial gravimetric H2 uptake of >10 wt% at cryogenic conditions (−196 °C), as smaller pores benefit by stronger physisorption due to the high heat of adsorption. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Conversion of Residual Biomass into Valuable Carbon-Based Materials)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-2
Back to TopTop