Environmental Catalytic Applications of Waste-Derived Materials

A special issue of Catalysts (ISSN 2073-4344). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Catalysis".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2022) | Viewed by 5595

Special Issue Editors

1. Department of Chemical and Environmental Technology, ESCET, Rey Juan Carlos University, Tulipán s/n, 28933 Móstoles, Spain
2. Mountain Research Centre (CIMO), Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 5300-253 Bragança, Portugal
Interests: carbon-based materials; nanostructured materials; magnetic composites; carbon electrodes; geopolymers; advanced oxidation processes; electro-Fenton; wastewater treatment; municipal solid wastes treatment and management; reactor modelling and design (kinetic modeling)
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Chemical and Environmental Technology Department, University Rey Juan Carlos, 28933 Madrid, Spain
Interests: zeolites; mesoporous materials; metallic organic frameworks (mofs); carbon-based materials; advanced oxidation processes; sustainable wastewater treatment technologies; recovery of nutrients; valorization of waste streams; circular economy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The management of waste is one of the greatest challenges currently faced by the world. Solid wastes from industrial, domestic, hospital, commercial, agricultural, or municipal activities and their characteristics (hazard potential; chemical and biological composition and physicochemical properties) strongly depend on these activities and sources. As a consequence of their nature, final disposal can cause serious environmental impacts, such as soil or water contamination.

In recent decades, many researchers have been making significant efforts toward the transformation of hazardous wastes into high-added value products. This is the case for catalytic materials from waste-derived streams, such as carbon-based catalysts prepared from biomass wastes, inorganic catalysts from ashes or metal slags, organic metal frameworks, and nanostructured carbon catalysts from plastic wastes or catalysts from food industry wastes, among others. This field of research is undoubtedly making progress in the mitigation of the environmental impact of solid wastes as well as developing novel catalytic materials from renewable and low-cost sources, decreasing their cost production.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to provide the latest research progress and state of the art of processes developed for the preparation of novel catalysts derived from solid wastes and their application in environmental catalytic processes, such as wastewater treatment, gas emission control, CO2 capture and conversion into platform chemicals or hydrogen and syngas production, and biodiesel production, among others.

We would like to express our wholehearted thanks to all authors who consider participating in this Special Issue. Your willingness to share your knowledge is greatly appreciated. Furthermore, we would also like to extend our gratitude to all assistants who helped to produce this Special Issue.

Dr. Jose Luis Diaz de Tuesta
Prof. Dr. Fernando Martínez Castillejo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • solid waste
  • sludge
  • fly ash
  • metal slag
  • plastic waste
  • environmental catalysis
  • wastewater treatment
  • gas emission control
  • valorization technologies

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 2648 KiB  
Article
Fusion-Assisted Hydrothermal Synthesis and Post-Synthesis Modification of Mesoporous Hydroxy Sodalite Zeolite Prepared from Waste Coal Fly Ash for Biodiesel Production
by Juvet Malonda Shabani, Alechine E. Ameh, Oluwaseun Oyekola, Omotola O. Babajide and Leslie Petrik
Catalysts 2022, 12(12), 1652; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/catal12121652 - 15 Dec 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1430
Abstract
Increases in biodiesel prices remains a challenge, mainly due to the high cost of conventional oil feedstocks used during biodiesel production and the challenges associated with using homogeneous catalysts in the process. This study investigated the conversion of waste-derived black soldier fly (BSF) [...] Read more.
Increases in biodiesel prices remains a challenge, mainly due to the high cost of conventional oil feedstocks used during biodiesel production and the challenges associated with using homogeneous catalysts in the process. This study investigated the conversion of waste-derived black soldier fly (BSF) maggot oil feedstock over hydroxy sodalite (HS) zeolite synthesized from waste coal fly ash (CFA) in biodiesel production. The zeolite product prepared after fusion of CFA followed by hydrothermal synthesis (F-HS) resulted in a highly crystalline, mesoporous F-HS zeolite with a considerable surface area of 45 m2/g. The impact of post-synthesis modification of the parent HS catalyst (F-HS) by ion exchange with an alkali source (KOH) on its performance in biodiesel production was investigated. The parent F-HS zeolite catalyst resulted in a high biodiesel yield of 84.10%, with a good quality of 65% fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) content and fuel characteristics compliant with standard biodiesel specifications. After ion exchange, the modified HS zeolite catalyst (K/F-HS) decreased in crystallinity, mesoporosity and total surface area. The K/F-HS catalyst resulted in sub-standard biodiesel of 51.50% FAME content. Hence, contrary to various studies, the ion exchange modified zeolite was unfavorable as a catalyst for biodiesel production. Interestingly, the F-HS zeolite derived from waste CFA showed a favorable performance as a heterogeneous catalyst compared to the conventional sodium hydroxide (NaOH) homogeneous catalyst. The zeolite catalyst resulted in a more profitable process using BSF maggot oil and was economically comparable with NaOH for every kilogram of biodiesel produced. Furthermore, this study showed the potential to address the overall biodiesel production cost challenge via the development of waste-derived catalysts and BSF maggot oil as low-cost feedstock alternatives. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Catalytic Applications of Waste-Derived Materials)
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16 pages, 2996 KiB  
Review
Sustainably Recycling and Upcycling of Single-Use Plastic Wastes through Heterogeneous Catalysis
by Xiaoxia Zhang, Shaodan Xu, Junhong Tang, Li Fu and Hassan Karimi-Maleh
Catalysts 2022, 12(8), 818; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/catal12080818 - 26 Jul 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3663
Abstract
The huge amount of plastic waste has caused a series of environmental and economic problems. Depolymerization of these wastes and their conversion into desired chemicals have been regarded as a promising route for dealing with these issues, which strongly relies on catalysis for [...] Read more.
The huge amount of plastic waste has caused a series of environmental and economic problems. Depolymerization of these wastes and their conversion into desired chemicals have been regarded as a promising route for dealing with these issues, which strongly relies on catalysis for C-C and C-O bond cleavage and selective transformation. Here, we reviewed recent developments in catalysis systems for dealing with single-use plastics, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyethylene glycol terephthalate. The recycling processes of depolymerization into original monomers and conversion into other economic-incentive chemicals were systemically discussed. Rational designs of catalysts for efficient conversion were particularly highlighted. Overall, improving the tolerance of catalysts to impurities in practical plastics, reducing the economic cost during the catalytic depolymerization process, and trying to obtain gaseous hydrogen from plastic wastes are suggested as the developing trends in this field. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Catalytic Applications of Waste-Derived Materials)
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