Climate change is the most important challenge affecting the future of our planet and it is essential that we take action. We also know that chemical sciences play a critical role in developing a sustainable future. UN SDG 13, Climate Action, underscores the need to “[…] promote mechanisms for raising capacity for effective climate change-related planning and management in least developed countries, including focusing on women, youth and local and marginalized communities”.
The role of chemistry in tackling climate change is broad and varied, from waste and CO2 reduction and utilization, to low-energy production and energy conversion and storage. Chemists are aware of this critical role and we have seen significant growth in the number of published articles in Scopus on “sustainable chemistry”
At Elsevier, the Chemistry journals department and the Elsevier Foundation have been collaborating for five years on the Green and Sustainable Chemistry Challenge and have received thousands of proposals in this time. As it is essential for the future of the planet that climate scientists and sustainable chemists collaborate, we are proud to re-launch as the Chemistry for Climate Action Challenge. Alongside the new climate focus, the Challenge also supports SDG 5, Gender Equality, recognising the pivotal role that women play in combating climate change. Projects submitted to the Challenge must integrate a gender dimension into their projects, such as addressing the role of women in adapting to climate shifts and participating in policy-making and leadership roles.
To show the importance of climate action and to celebrate the years of collaboration between the Elsevier Chemistry journals department and the Elsevier Foundation , we have compiled this special issue, highlighting top chemistry content related to SDG 13 and providing information on past winners of the Green & Sustainable Chemistry Challenge.
To apply for the Challenge, visit the Elsevier Foundation website HERE.
Elsevier, Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, Volume 31, October 2021
Energy production and CO2 emissions are strictly connected. One of the most efficient and straightforward mitigations to the climate change is the conversion of CO2 into chemicals that may play the role of energy vectors in a carbon-based energy cycle. Practical aspects of using abundant and low-cost materials are crucial for real-world applications, in particular redox catalysts with high turnover number, selectivity, and efficiency to overcome the CO2 stability.
Elsevier, Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, Volume 31, October 2021
Global warming and climate change caused by an ever-increasing accumulation of atmospheric CO2 are reaching alarming levels. In order to address this issue, significant research effort has been dedicated to the development of carbon capture processes for sequestration or utilization of CO2. Current technologies rely on energy-intensive temperature- or pressure-swing of CO2 sorbents, limiting the economic feasibility of the process. Herein, we review recent advances in electrochemically mediated CO2 capture and release.
Elsevier, Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, Volume 23, June 2020
The process industries have been facing ever increasing pressure in the monitoring and control of gaseous pollutants such as volatile organic compounds and hazardous air pollutants. With increasingly stringent regulations and laws, emission management may need to go beyond the traditional leak detection and repair and continuous emissions monitoring system approaches to manage potential emission events. Alternative monitoring technologies, such as optical and remote sensing instruments and wireless sensors, can monitor emissions from a specific equipment/area/unit/plant in a timely manner.
Elsevier, Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, Volume 26, December 2020
Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration has been increasing in the last two decades and, as a major greenhouse gas, it has been linked to global warming and climate changes. Capture and conversion of CO2 into fuels and chemicals offer opportunities to mitigate the increasing CO2 buildup, while simultaneously adding value to CO2. The main limitation in CO2 conversion is its high thermodynamic stability, thus requiring catalysts and energy input to drive the transformation.
Elsevier, Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, Volume 15, February 2019
This mini-review succinctly describes the recent progresses in selective heterogeneous photocatalysis for the preparation of high value organics from lignocellulose-based waste as well as the perspective use of its fundamentals to develop a new concept of solar bio-refineries highlighting the challenges for the future and some needs to innovate.
Hydrogen as a clean, reliable and potentially sustainable energy vector has attracted growing interest for promoting the sustainable development of both industry and society worldwide. Hydrogen is a rising enabler for a multisectorial transition toward a low-carbon economy based on renewable energy sources. Nevertheless, there is a lack of literature scientifically scrutinizing the relationships between a hydrogen economy and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Elsevier, Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, Volume 26, December 2020
Among the major pollutants in the atmosphere, carbon oxides are the result of multiple factors, mainly due to human activities. Nowadays, the decrease in carbon oxides emissions represents a pressing challenge necessary to limit their harmful effects on the climate change. As a result, numerous strategies dedicated to the environmental preservation are currently under study and, among these, all that kind of technologies that produce power from renewable sources offer promising solutions.
Elsevier, Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, Volume 18, August 2019
In the last couple of years, deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have been raising a lot of attention mainly due to their versatility and their easy and speedy preparation without the need of further purification. Moreover, the vast array of very different compounds that can be selected for their preparation has led to the full tailoring of their relevant properties as solvents.
Elsevier, Materials Today Sustainability, Volume 11-12, March 2021
Fatty alcohols (FAs) have been widely studied as typical phase-change materials for their high latent heat, low undercooling, non-toxicity, and low cost in thermal energy storage applications. The thermal properties, especially the heat capacity, play a vital role in designing-related energy storage techniques. However, there are few studies on the thermal properties of FAs systematically investigated in a wide temperature region, which greatly limit their application in thermal energy storage field.
Elsevier, Materials Today Sustainability, Volume 11-12, March 2021
With the growing global environmental awareness, the development of renewable and green materials has gained increased worldwide interest. Being at the heart of current scientific research studies, renewable polymers, include natural, semisynthetic, and microbial polymers, have a scope in vast diverse applications in packaging, agriculture, medicine, and optoelectronic technological fields.
Elsevier, Materials Today Sustainability, Volume 9, September 2020
Manufacturing challenges are anticipated to become worse in the coming decades owing to global material and energy constraints combined with environmental issues associated with conventional processes. Addressing these difficulties calls for a significant amount of research to be conducted to establish robust new technologies that are cost-effective and energy efficient, while at the same time minimizing environmental pollution.
Elsevier, Materials Today Sustainability, Volume 9, September 2020
CeO2 shows unique catalytic properties by an acid–base bifunctionality as well as redox properties. The acid–base bifunctional properties of CeO2 have been applied to the non-reductive CO2 conversion with alcohols such as dimethyl carbonate (DMC) synthesis from CO2 and methanol. CeO2 shows very high selectivity to DMC; however, the yield of DMC is strongly limited by the equilibrium. The combination of the synthesis of organic carbonates from CO2 and corresponding alcohols with suitable H2O removal methods can enhance the yield of the organic carbonates beyond the equilibrium limitation.
Elsevier, Materials Today Sustainability, Volume 9, September 2020
Solar light-driven water splitting provides a promising way to store and use abundant solar energy in the form of gaseous hydrogen which is the cleanest chemical fuel for mankind; therefore this field has been attracting increasing attention over the past decades.
Elsevier, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 555, 1 November 2019
The two-dimensional (2D) ultrathin Mg-Al layered double hydroxide modified by magnetic Fe3O4 (Fe3O4/Mg-Al LDH) was successfully synthesized via the co-precipitation method. The Fe3O4/Mg-Al LDH not only exhibits superior separation efficiency of charge carriers but also possesses signally enhanced photocatalytic activity for CO2 reduction than Mg-Al LDH. The as-prepared Fe3O4/Mg-Al LDH affords the CO and CH4 generation rate of 442.2 µmol g−1 h−1 and 223.9 µmol g−1 h−1. The enhanced reduction CO2 activity mainly comes from synergetic effect of Fe3O4 and ultrathin Mg-Al LDH.
Elsevier, Current Research in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, Volume 4, January 2021
Porous liquids form a new class of materials, which are liquid at room temperature and possess permanent porosity. The latter is a characteristic generally associated with solid-state only. Since the idea of porous liquid was exploited over a decade ago, the researchers see an opportunity of solving the solid material's limitation in gas capture and separation. In this discussion, we present the most recent developments on porous liquids and, in our perspectives, how they can tackle energy and environmental issues by their coupling with membrane technology.
Elsevier, Current Research in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, Volume 3, June 2020
Bio-based aerogels with customizable porosities and functionalities constitute a significant potential for CO2 capture. Developing bio-based aerogels from different polysaccharides and proteins is a safe, economical, and environmentally sustainable approach. Polysaccharides are biodegradable, sustainable, renewable, and plentiful in nature. Because of these advantages, the use of bio-based aerogels with porosity and amine functionality has attracted considerable interest.
Elsevier, Current Research in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, Volume 3, June 2020
The successful conversion of lignocellulose into value-added products depends on overcoming the recalcitrance of its structure towards enzymatic digestion. The highly crosslinked structure of lignin, crystallinity of cellulose, and low digestibility of hemicellulose create the recalcitrance. Many studies have proved that an appropriate pretreatment method could enhance the digestibility of lignocellulosic biomass by weakening the strong network of its chemical bonds among the cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin.
Elsevier, Sustainable Chemistry and Pharmacy, Volume 18, December 2020
In this essay some important forerunners of green chemistry will be discussed and compared with the present state. The relationship to ethics will be considered. Starting from the new movement of green chemistry by Anastas, some important highlights will be presented. The new activities of IUPAC and other institutions on the concepts of metrics for green syntheses will be discussed. The prime importance of the inclusion of developing African countries into the concepts will also be covered.
12th November 2020
This article highlights the winning proposals of the fifth edition of the Elsevier Foundation Green & Sustainable Chemistry Challenge. The winning proposals were chosen for their innovative green chemistry aspects and their large positive impact on the environment, contributing to SDGs 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14 and 15.
9th November 2020
In 2019, Dr. Ankur Patwardhan, Head of the Biodiversity Department at Maharashtra Education Society’s Abasaheb Garware College, Pune, India, was awarded the second prize in the Elsevier Foundation Green and Sustainable Chemistry Challenge. Contributing to SDGs 13 and 15, his project, “Butterfly attractant for pollination and ecosystem health”, focused on the plant-pollinator interactions that play a vital role in maintaining ecosystem balance and aimed at enhancing floral visits by butterflies through the development of natural attractant formulations. One year later, we interviewed Dr. Patwardhan about his experience at the Challenge, as well as the upcoming steps for his project.
12th October 2020
In 2018, Dr. Alessio Adamiano, a researcher for the Italian National Research Council at the Institute of Science and Technology for Ceramic Materials, was awarded the second prize of €25,000. Contributing to SDGs 2, 13 and 14, his project, “Phos-Fate: Empowering fishing communities for climate change”, demonstrated how phosphorous can be recycled in a simple, scalable way by converting fish bones into products such as fertilizers. Two years later, we interviewed Dr. Adamiano about his experience at the Challenge, as well as the upcoming steps for his project empowering fishing communities for climate change.
17th September 2020
In 2018, Dr. Prajwal Rajbhandari was awarded the first prize of the Elsevier Foundation Green and Sustainable Chemistry Challenge for his project, “Guava leaves as natural preservatives for farmers of Nepal.” Due to a lack of viable non-toxic preservatives, or cold chain technologies, one-third of Nepal’s produce is spoiled before it reaches market each year. Dr. Rajbhandari’s project taps the antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of guava leaves to make a water-based, sprayable natural preservative, contributing to SDGs 2, 12 and 15. Two years later, we interviewed Dr. Rajbhandari about his experience as a winner, as well as the upcoming steps for his project.
26th July 2020
In 2017, Dr. Dênis Pires de Lima from the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, was awarded the first prize of € 50,000 for his project “From Cashews to castor oil, combating mosquito-borne diseases.” Contributing to SDGs 3 and 15, Dr. Pires de Lima and his team’s project promoted the use of natural waste from locally sourced cashew nuts and castor oil, to produce environmentally friendly insecticides against mosquitoes carrying Zika and Dengue fever — a sustainable alternative to conventional, substantially toxic insecticides. Three years later, we interviewed Dr. about his experience as a winner of the Green Sustainable Chemistry Challenge, as well as the upcoming steps for his winning project.
19th April 2020
This articles highlights one of the winning proposals of the Elsevier Foundation Green & Sustainable Chemistry Challenge, “Butterfly attractant for pollination and ecosystem health.” The project, which combines ecology and chemistry, involved field observations and lab-based experiments to protect biodiversity in the Western Ghats of India by increasing butterfly pollination, contributing to SDGs 13, 15 and 17.
3rd March 2020
In 2017, Chioma Blaise Chikere was awarded the second prize of the Green and Sustainable Chemistry Challenge. Her project “Eco-restoration of crude oil-polluted land in Nigeria” demonstrated how organic nutrients such as garden fertilizers and animal excreta can be used to degrade hydrocarbons, cleaning up the soils heavily contaminated by decades of oil spills and advancing SDGs 6, 13 and 15. Three years later, we caught up with Dr. Chikere to learn about her research journey.
3rd June 2019
This article highlights the winning proposals of the fourth edition of the Elsevier Foundation Green & Sustainable Chemistry Challenge. The winning proposals were chosen for their innovative green chemistry aspects and their large positive impact on the environment, contributing to SDGs 6, 13 and 15.
16th May 2018
This article highlights the winning proposals of the third edition of the Elsevier Foundation Green & Sustainable Chemistry Challenge. The winning proposals were chosen for their innovative green chemistry aspects and their large positive impact on the environment, contributing to SDGs 2, 12, 13 and 15.
16th May 2017
This article highlights the winning proposals of the second edition of the Elsevier Foundation Green & Sustainable Chemistry Challenge. The winning proposals were chosen for their innovative green chemistry aspects and their large positive impact on the environment, contributing to SDGs 3, 8, 13 and 15.
Elsevier Connect 9 May 2017
The winner of the first ever Green and Sustainable Chemistry Challenge, Dr Suzana Yusup, invited Rob van Daalen (publisher Chemistry and initiator of the Challenge) to make a site visit to see the progress of her project "Biopesticide for Improvement of Paddy Yield". The visit made clear that the Elsevier sustainability program and specifically this challenge have a positive impact on health, environment and society in local communities in Malaysia, enhancing efforts to advance SDGs 1, 6, 12 and 15.
5th April 2016
This article highlights the winning proposals of the first edition of the Elsevier Foundation Green & Sustainable Chemistry Challenge. The winning proposals were chosen for their innovative green chemistry aspects and their large positive impact on the environment, contributing to SDGs 6, 12 and 15.
