Advances in green chemistry and engineering
Jechan Lee, Assunta Marrocchi
Abstract
In the research areas of green chemistry/engineering, green synthesis of chemicals and solvents, waste recycling, and biodegradable polymer synthesis are emerging trends. Developing less hazardous synthesis protocols of chemicals and solvents is necessary to move the industrial landscape in various sectors (organic synthesis, pharmaceuticals, pollutant extraction, etc.) forward to a long-term sustainable reality. Although earlier studies on green synthesis of chemicals/solvents tended to focus on small molecules, medium-sized molecules have recently garnered more attention. The current landscape of waste recycling is to recover value-added fractions (e.g., monomers and functional materials) from complex waste substances characterized by intricate compositions (e.g., composite and unsorted plastics). Synthesized biodegradable polymers have continuously gained attention due to the difficulty in procuring reproducibility when using natural polymeric materials 1 . Many recent studies aim to improve the scalability and stability of biodegradable polymers to meet criteria for commercialization.