Recent Advancements in Biomass/Waste-Derived Materials in Catalysis, Energy Storage, and Computational Modeling

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 October 2022) | Viewed by 8695

Special Issue Editors

School of Chemical & Energy Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
Interests: sustainable catalytic process; applied catalysis; reaction engineering; biomass conversion; computational catalysis; CO2 conversion; photocatalysis
Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical & Materials Engineering, School of Science and Technology, National University of Sciences and Technology, Scholars Ave, H-12, Islamabad, Islamabad Capital Territory, Pakistan
Interests: waste to energy; biomass pyrolysis; gasification; catalytic pyrolysis; biochar
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Interests: solid waste treatment and recycling; biomass/coal gasification and pyrolysis; oil recycling from oily sludge; hydrogen production with tar catalysis reforming; municipal solid waste to fuel; sewage sludge treatment and recycling; drying technology of high moisture materials; microbial technology for solid waste treatment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Research related to thermochemical processing of biomass and solid wastes has been experiencing rapid development during the past 20 years. The topics include fundamental reaction mechanisms and kinetics, lab-scale and demonstration-scale reactor design and operation, complex modeling, and process simulation. Ongoing research is still struggling to explore effective strategies/techniques to utilizing biomass- and waste-derived materials in catalysis, energy storage, and computational modeling applications. This Special Issue aims to cover promising and dynamic areas of research and contributions on recent developments in catalysis, energy storage, and computational modeling related to biomass/waste-derived materials. This thematic issue will present the most advanced progress involving biomass-derived carbons for use in various applications. such as chemical reactions, fuel cells, electrocatalytic water splitting devices, supercapacitors. and lithium-ion batteries. In addition, advanced machine learning tools such as artificial neural network or genetic algorithm studies to predict process behavior will be a part of this potential thematic issue.

Prof. Dr. Nor Aishah Saidina Amin
Dr. Salman Raza Naqvi
Dr. Ningbo Gao
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • biomass/wastes catalysis
  • pyrolysis
  • energy storage
  • modeling
  • neural network

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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11 pages, 4968 KiB  
Article
Effect of Pyrolysis Temperature during Valorization of Date Stones on Physiochemical Properties of Activated Carbon and Its Catalytic Activity for the Oxidation of Cycloalkenes
by Hamed M. Alshammari and Nadir Abbas
Catalysts 2021, 11(6), 686; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal11060686 - 28 May 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2078
Abstract
This study presents findings on the chemical synthesis of activated carbon from Saudi dates and its structural, chemical, and catalytic properties. Dates are among the top biowaste materials in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and efforts are underway to utilize this resource. A [...] Read more.
This study presents findings on the chemical synthesis of activated carbon from Saudi dates and its structural, chemical, and catalytic properties. Dates are among the top biowaste materials in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and efforts are underway to utilize this resource. A chemical pyrolysis method was used to synthesize activated carbon from date stones. Synthesized activated carbon was calcined at different temperatures of 400, 500, 600, and 700 °C, and the impact of calcination temperature on the properties of activated carbon was investigated. For this purpose, contemporary characterization tools, namely, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, FTIR, SEM, TEM, TGA, DSC, and XPS, were employed. Results are discussed and compared with associated studies. Finally, the catalytic activity of gold-deposited activated carbon for the oxidation of cycloalkenes was evaluated, and it was found that the calcination temperature has a linear positive relationship with the catalytic activity. Full article
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Review

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26 pages, 889 KiB  
Review
Biocatalysts in Synthesis of Microbial Polysaccharides: Properties and Development Trends
by Elena Efremenko, Olga Senko, Olga Maslova, Nikolay Stepanov, Aysel Aslanli and Ilya Lyagin
Catalysts 2022, 12(11), 1377; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal12111377 - 07 Nov 2022
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 1657
Abstract
Polysaccharides synthesized by microorganisms (bacterial cellulose, dextran, pullulan, xanthan, etc.) have a set of valuable properties, such as being antioxidants, detoxifying, structuring, being biodegradable, etc., which makes them suitable for a variety of applications. Biocatalysts are the key substances used in producing such [...] Read more.
Polysaccharides synthesized by microorganisms (bacterial cellulose, dextran, pullulan, xanthan, etc.) have a set of valuable properties, such as being antioxidants, detoxifying, structuring, being biodegradable, etc., which makes them suitable for a variety of applications. Biocatalysts are the key substances used in producing such polysaccharides; therefore, modern research is focused on the composition and properties of biocatalysts. Biocatalysts determine the possible range of renewable raw materials which can be used as substrates for such synthesis, as well as the biochemistry of the process and the rate of molecular transformations. New biocatalysts are being developed for participating in a widening range of stages of raw material processing. The functioning of biocatalysts can be optimized using the following main approaches of synthetic biology: the use of recombinant biocatalysts, the creation of artificial consortia, the combination of nano- and microbiocatalysts, and their immobilization. New biocatalysts can help expand the variety of the polysaccharides’ useful properties. This review presents recent results and achievements in this field of biocatalysis. Full article
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35 pages, 6956 KiB  
Review
A Review on Production and Surface Modifications of Biochar Materials via Biomass Pyrolysis Process for Supercapacitor Applications
by Rifat Mehdi, Asif Hussain Khoja, Salman Raza Naqvi, Ningbo Gao and Nor Aishah Saidina Amin
Catalysts 2022, 12(7), 798; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal12070798 - 20 Jul 2022
Cited by 29 | Viewed by 3983
Abstract
Biochar (BC) based materials are solid carbon enriched materials produced via different thermochemical techniques such as pyrolysis. However, the non-modified/non-activated BC-based materials obtained from the low-temperature pyrolysis of biomass cannot perform well in energy storage applications due to the mismatched physicochemical and electrical [...] Read more.
Biochar (BC) based materials are solid carbon enriched materials produced via different thermochemical techniques such as pyrolysis. However, the non-modified/non-activated BC-based materials obtained from the low-temperature pyrolysis of biomass cannot perform well in energy storage applications due to the mismatched physicochemical and electrical properties such as low surface area, poor pore features, and low density and conductivity. Therefore, to improve the surface features and structure of the BC and surface functionalities, surface modifications and activations are introduced to improve its properties to achieve enhanced electrochemical performance. The surface modifications use various activation methods to modify the surface properties of BC to achieve enhanced performance for supercapacitors in energy storage applications. This article provides a detailed review of surface modification methods and the application of modified BC to be used for the synthesis of electrodes for supercapacitors. The effect of those activation methods on physicochemical and electrical properties is critically presented. Finally, the research gap and future prospects are also elucidated. Full article
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