Dear Colleagues,

Lignocellulosic biomass is one of the largest solid organic wastes generated in the world due to the fast population growth and intense industrialization and related demands for food and energy. With the increased environmental concerns and changes in energy matrices, lignocellulosic biomass represents a valuable source of new added-value molecules, in addition to a technology hub, where chemical and enzymatic catalysis and biotechnology can be combined towards a more sustainable quality of life.

Biocatalysis studies of new immobilized enzymes have achieved both hydrolysis and biotransformation of lignocellulose into compounds of high industrial interest, with greater regio-, enantio-, and chemoselectivity, whereas advances in protein engineering, metabolic engineering, and bioinformatics have led to the production and modeling of new enzymes for novel applications.

In chemical catalysis research involving new catalysts and nanomaterials, biomass has been used for oxidation, hydrogenation, hydrolysis, defunctionalization, and other reactions, aiming at obtaining functional monomers and derivatives which can be intermediates for biofuels, new polymers, and others functional molecules.

New immobilized enzymes and chemical catalysts can also act together as hybrid catalysts, allowing the regeneration of enzymatic cofactors through photocatalytic complexes and biomimetic molecules. The combination of chemical catalysis and biocatalysis can be further developed through a one-pot–one-step approach aiming at the maximum use of biomass, according to the concept of biorefinery.

Prof. Dr. Ivaldo Itabaiana Jr
Dr. Robert Wojcieszak
Guest Editors

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• Surface immobilization
• Encapsulation of active catalysts
• Cell immobilization
• Enzyme immobilization
• Chemical aspects of immobilization
• Methods for hybrid material regeneration
• Methods for hybrid material characterization
• Semi-synthetic and artificial enzymes
• Inorganic and organic materials for immobilization
• Advanced hybridreactors, nanoreactors, and bioreactors
• Application in catalysis
• Biocatalysis
• Enzyme biotechnology
• New sustainable processes using hybrid materials