Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) can be electrochemically upgraded into value-added chemicals under mild conditions, providing a viable strategy for the coupled aims of plastic-waste valorization and decarbonization. Replacing the anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) with PET-derived ethylene glycol electrooxidation reaction (EGOR) markedly reduces the required cell voltage while co-producing H2 and value-added products. However, realizing these applications hinges on the design of efficient and stable catalysts that enable selective oxidation. Herein, we demonstrate a novel EGOR pre-catalyst, Cl- doped cobalt hydroxide on a Ni foam (NF) substrate (Co(OH)2-Cl/NF), which undergoes chlorine etching through electrochemical activation, inducing the gradual in situ reconstruction of the pre-catalyst into a highly active EGOR catalyst (CoOOH-VCl/NF). During EGOR, CoOOH-VCl/NF demonstrates a current density of 400mA cm-2 at 1.37V versus RHE, alongside a Faradaic efficiency of 96.9% for formate generation, while retaining stable performance over 100h of uninterrupted operation, thus underscoring its considerable industrial application potential. The "Cl- etching-induced material dynamic reconstruction" strategy proposed in this work not only provides a novel approach for constructing highly efficient EGOR electrocatalysts, but also lays the foundation for synergistically advancing the high-value utilization of plastic waste and green hydrogen production.

Abstract. Quartz is the most abundant mineral in the Earth's crust, and with the growing demand for advanced materials, high-purity quartz (HPQ) derived from natural quartz-bearing rocks has become increasingly important. This study investigates the raw material potential and economic feasibility of HPQ from the Hua Tuo (HT) and Peng Xin (PX) pegmatite mining areas in the Qianqi Furong mining district, Inner Mongolia, China. Petrographic observations, X-ray diffraction (XRD), laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), and bulk-solution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) were employed to characterize quartz before and after processing. Purification of the raw ore was carried out through high-temperature calcination, crushing and sieving, magnetic separation, gravity separation, flotation, and acid leaching. The results show that both HT and PX vein quartz contain secondary phases and fluid inclusions. After beneficiation and chemical purification, SiO2 contents reach 99.963 wt %–99.970 wt % for HT and 99.974 wt %–99.985 wt % for PX. Total trace element concentrations decrease significantly, from 322.96 to 18.72 µg g−1 in HT quartz and from 4944.73 to 114.56 µg g−1 in PX quartz. Variations in Al, Ti, Li, and Ge suggest that the pegmatites likely originated from the same parental magma, with differences in intrusion conditions controlling their present characteristics. Although the HT pegmatite shows stronger magmatic features, the limited resource scale constrains the overall economic value. Nevertheless, the integrated development of multiple pegmatite bodies in the district may offer considerable industrial potential.

High-temperature treatment is widely employed in the manufacturing of oilseeds and their derivatives to optimize the sensory characteristics, because flavor quality is a critical factor influencing consumer preferences. However, high-temperature treatment leads to several undesirable outcomes, including harmful compound formation and nutrient degradation. Therefore, developing processes to produce oilseed products with desirable sensory characteristics, without compromising food safety and nutritional value, remains an urgent challenge for researchers. Notably, flavor precursors are effectively released through enzymatic hydrolysis of oilseeds, enabling the development of desirable flavor characteristics at low processing temperatures. Therefore, enzymatic treatment compensates for the issues associated with high-temperature treatment, thus demonstrating considerable industrial potential. Enzymatic treatment is discussed in this review as a promising method for enhancing the flavor of oilseeds and their products. Furthermore, enzymatic processing has proven valuable in enhancing the functionality of oilseed by-products, enabling their utilization in flavor enhancer production and food system applications. Despite showing significant potential in flavor enhancement and sustainable resource utilization, systematic evaluation is still required for this technology. Current knowledge of flavor formation in oilseeds and their products, enzymatic hydrolysis principles, and their food applications in flavor enhancement is summarized in this review. On the basis of this review, valuable insights are provided for researchers and industry practitioners developing more efficient approaches to enhance food flavor through enzymatic treatment of oilseed derivatives.

The rapid growth of electric vehicles (EVs) has significantly increased the demand for lithium (Li)-ion batteries (LIBs), bringing environmental, economic, and technical challenges. Developing recycling methods that ensure economic viability and reduce environmental impact is now critical. Traditional hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical routes, while established and widely applied for LIB recycling, generate substantial volumes of waste (wastewater, slag, toxic gas) and low-value chemical components, e.g., Li2CO3, Nickel (Ni)/Cobalt (Co)/Manganese (Mn) salts, limiting their sustainability. Nowadays, the eutectic molten salt method, a typical direct regeneration technology, is gaining attention, standing out for its non-destructive repair, cost-effectiveness, and environmental benefits. It allows flexible salt combinations, adjustable lithiation, and annealing temperatures, and the use of additives to meet specific recycling needs, improving the electrochemical performance of spent cathode materials. This review begins with an overview of LIB composition and degradation mechanisms, then delves into recent advances in the eutectic molten salt method, covering pre-treatment, salt selection, thermal optimization, and cost-benefit analysis. In addition, these eutectic molten salt methods are compared with traditional hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical methods in terms of both economic and environmental impacts. Finally, the considerable industrial potential of eutectic molten salt methods for LIB recycling is highlighted, especially today when the EV sector is booming.

Phosphorylated chitosan-lignin composites for efficient removal of Pb(II) and Cu(II) from aqueous environments and sustainable upcycling of spent adsorbents.

This work investigates synthesizing activated carbon obtained from rubber seed shells utilizing several activating agents (KOH, CaCl2, and ZnCl2) for supercapacitor applications. Activated carbon was produced from a rubber seed shell using hydrothermal carbonization at 275 °C for 60 minutes and a 120-minute activation treatment at 800 °C. Various activating agents pronounced impacted the pore architecture, surface area, crystallinity, and level of graphitization, which collectively determined the electrochemical characteristics of the resulting materials. Incorporating activation agents enhances the specific surface area and influences the extent of graphitization of activated carbon. The specific surface area of activated carbon products ranges from 367 to 735.2 m² g⁻¹. Further investigation through electrochemical analysis, conducted with a carefully engineered two-electrode system, demonstrated a peak electrode capacitance value of 246 F g-1 at 50 mA g-1 for an ACZn-based supercapacitor. Supercapacitor cells’ energy and power densities reached significant levels, measuring 5.47 Wh kg-1 and 246 W kg-1, respectively. The RSS-derived activated carbon-based supercapacitor exhibited remarkable longevity in a 5000-cycle test, with consistent capacitance retention and coulombic efficiency of 100.11% and 100%, respectively. This work presents a sustainable pathway for producing activated carbon electrodes, contributing to the global circular economy and demonstrating considerable industrial potential.

Alkaline protease is a hydrolytic enzyme capable to degrade proteins into small peptides and amino acids, as a biocatalyst, it is applied in various fields such as detergent and leather industry. Here we report the different sources and pH values of alkaline protease and the bacterial species producing alkaline protease, discuss UV and ARTP and compare these two mutagenesis methods, and show that ARTP causes more DNA damnification than other mutagenesis methods and has the highest mutation rate caused by ARTP. In order to improve the protease production of Bacillus strains, the previous study has proposed some new and optimized mutagenesis methods. In addition, this paper demonstrates and highlights the considerable industrial potential of alkaline protease in detergents, leather processing, silver recycling, medical use, food processing, feed, chemical industry, and waste treatment, in which detergent and leather industry are more used.

β-ionone, a norisoprenoid, is a natural aromatic compound derived from plants, which displays various biological activities including anticancer, antioxidant and deworming properties. Due to its large biomass and strong environmental tolerance, the nonconventional oleaginous yeast Candida tropicalis was selected to efficiently synthesize β-ionone. We initially investigated the capacity of the cytoplasm and subcellular compartments to synthesize β-ionone independently. Subsequently, through adaptive screening of enzymes, functional identification of subcellular localization signal peptides and subcellular compartment combination strategies, a titer of 152.4 mg/L of β-ionone was achieved. Finally, directed evolution of rate-limiting enzyme and overexpression of key enzymes were performed to enhance β-ionone production. The resulting titer was 400.5 mg/L in shake flasks and 730 mg/L in a bioreactor. This study demonstrates the first de novo synthesis of β-ionone in C. tropicalis, providing a novel cellular chassis for terpenoid fragrances with considerable industrial potential.

ABSTRACT Hydroquinone, a widely used phenolic compound, poses significant health and environmental risk and must be removed from wastewater. In this study, a novel adsorbent was developed for the removal of hydroquinone from aqueous solutions through the in-situ polymerisation of 2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) in the presence of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs). The kinetics of equilibrium swelling in deionised water (DI) and the effect of pH on the swelling behaviour were investigated. The structure of the nanocomposite hydrogel was analysed using FTIR, XRD, FESEM, EDX, TEM, and BET analysis. Various factors affecting the adsorption process, such as solution pH (2–12), initial concentration (25–200 mg/L), adsorbent dosage (4.0–80 mg/100 mL), NaCl concentration (0.1–1.0 mol/L), and temperature, were also investigated. The adsorption capacity of hydroquinone and the removal efficiency of PDMAEMA@ZnO reached 455 mg/g and 91%, respectively, at pH 11 within 15 minutes. Furthermore, PDMAEMA@ZnO showed a high removal efficiency of 99.47% in tests with real wastewater. Reusability studies showed that the adsorbent retained its ability to remove hydroquinone after four regeneration cycles. The adsorption data were well described by the pseudo-second order and Langmuir models. The thermodynamic parameters indicated that the adsorption process is spontaneous and endothermic. Therefore, the adsorbent, has considerable industrial potential as it quickly and efficiently adsorbs phenolic impurities such as hydroquinone from real textile wastewater.

Energy-saving extractive distillation process for the separation of close-boiling 2, 6-xylenol and p-cresol mixture

– Alkaline proteases possess considerable industrial potential due to their biochemical diversity and wide applications in tannery and food industries, medicinal formulations, detergents and processes like waste treatment, silver recovery and resolution of amino acid mixtures. The genus Bacillus contains a number of industrially important species and approximately half of the present commercial production of bulk enzymes derives from the strains of Bacillus sp. These strains are specific producers of extracellular proteases and can be cultivated under extreme temperature and pH conditions to give rise to products that are, in turn, stable in a wide range of harsh environments.

Air preoxidation and Fe-catalyzed cooperative effect for preparation of high-performance coal-based granular activated carbon: Enhancing low-concentration CH4 recovery and utilization

The rectangular profile conductor with a large cross section requires less slot space and has better heat dissipation ability than the traditional round profile one. But its application in automotive propulsion electric machines is thwarted by high ac winding losses and temperature rise under high-speed operations. This article proposes a novel stator winding topology with hybrid strands based on the ac losses' distribution characteristics and the theoretical relationship between the eddy current suppressing ability and the geometric parameters. The new winding can effectively reduce the ac loss and the peak temperature in the winding at high-speed operation. Meanwhile, it can maintain a high filling rate. Therefore, the machine's maximum rotating speed and power density can be effectively improved. In experimental validation, a winding sample with this new topology is manufactured and compared with the conventional one formed by rectangular wires. It shows the proposed method can reduce the winding ac loss by up to 12% and the temperature rise by 10–21%. It is validated to have considerable industrial potential in the future development of automotive motors.

SummaryAlthough microwave‐assisted thermal sterilisation (MATS) held great potential to sterilise ready‐to‐eat (RTE) products compared with traditional retort sterilisation, the quality improvement effect of MATS treatment on shelf‐stable RTE products has not been extensively studied. This study was performed to evaluate the efficacy and applicability of MATS combined with olive oil vacuum impregnation against lipid oxidation and microbial growth in RTE Pacific saury during storage. MATS combined with olive oil vacuum impregnation (MTSO) effectively reduced processing time (by 57%) compared to retort‐treated RTE Pacific saury at the same thermal lethality value. The lower cooking loss (6.19%) and colour damage indicated that MTSO enhanced water retention and the stability of tissue structure compared to retort‐treated group (9.88%) or no olive oil group (7.11%). Lipid oxidation and protein degradation were effectively inhibited in MATS groups compared to retort‐treated ones during storage; such effect was more effective in olive oil impregnated group. Likewise, microbial activity and electronic sensory evaluations showed that the shelf life of MTSO group was extended by 1 week compared to retort‐treated groups. Overall, MTSO had considerable industrial potential to yield RET Pacific saury and even RTE products with better quality attributes than retort‐treated ones.

Al-Ni-Cu alloys are used in energy, automotive, and aerospace industries because of their excellent mechanical properties, corrosion resistance, and high-temperature stability. In this study, Al-Ni-Cu alloy powder was subjected to selective laser melting (SLM). The SLM Al-Ni-Cu alloy was manufactured using appropriate printing parameters, and its properties were investigated. The results revealed that the As-printed material exhibited a typical melting pool stack structure, with an ultimate tensile strength of 725 MPa but a high brittleness effect (low ductility). After traditional heat treatment, the melting pool structure did not completely disappear. The strengthening phase Al7Cu23Ni precipitated from the boundary of the melting pools; thus, the Al-Ni-Cu alloy maintained high strength (>500 MPa) and considerably increased ductility (>10%). The SLM Al-Ni-Cu alloy has considerable industrial application potential; therefore, increasing the heat treatment temperature or extending the heat treatment time in the future works can promote the decomposition of the melting pool boundary and solve the problem related to the aggregation behavior of the precipitation phase, thereby improving the fatigue life of the alloy.

Egg proteins can be used in a wide range of food products, owing to their excellent foaming, emulsifying, and gelling properties. Another important functional property is the susceptibility of egg proteins to enzymatic hydrolysis, as protein digestion is closely related to its nutritional value. These functional properties of egg proteins are likely to be changed during food processing. Conventional thermal processing can easily induce protein denaturation and aggregation and consequently reduce the functionality of egg proteins due to the presence of heat-labile proteins. Accordingly, there is interest from the food industry in seeking novel nonthermal or low-thermal techniques that sustain protein functionality. To understand how novel processing techniques, including high hydrostatic pressure, pulsed electric fields, ionizing radiation, ultraviolet light, pulsed light, ultrasound, ozone, and high pressure homogenization, affect protein functionality, this review introduces the mechanisms involved in protein structure modification and describes the structure-functionality relationships. Novel techniques differ in their mechanisms of protein structure modification and some have been shown to improve protein functionality for particular treatment conditions and product forms. Although there is considerable industrial potential for the use of novel techniques, further studies are required to make them a practical reality, as the processing of egg proteins often involves other influencing factors, such as different pH and the presence of other food additives (for example, salts, sugar, and polysaccharides).

The growing race of urbanization and population growth lead to anthropogenic load on the water is increasing all the time. High population density and considerable industrial potential of the urbanized territory are becoming dominant sources of pollution of water bodies. This trend identifies progressive pollution of water bodies and the growing need for sanitary-ecological status of water control facilities. Natural chemical composition and properties of water in surface water bodies are formed depending on the hydrological, soil, climate and other features. Flowinduced suspensions in urban watercourses is one of the main ways of contamination distribution in urbanized areas. For monitoring and reducing the negative impacts on the water quality of watercourses requires estimation of anthropogenic pressures and studying its spatio-temporal variability. Analysis of anthropogenic stress on water objects allows you to set the relationship between the number of coming in the water body of pollutants and concentrations of chemicals in the water. The main aim is to determine the amounts of contaminants accumulated in the river riverbed during the period of the economic utilization of the watercourse and to assess the impact of urbanization on its ecological status. The article deals with the influence of anthropogenous load on river hydraulics and properties of channel sediments that determine the course of channel processes and overall ecological condition of water objects. The interrelation between water body condition, water quality and sediment pollution is presented. Method of estimation of anthropogenous load pollutants in river of urban area sis proposed. Comparative analysis of the load for the rivers of Russia with various water run-off is demonstrated.

Simultaneously enhanced ELM selectivity and stability by difunctional additives for batch and continuous separation of Cd(II)/Cu(II)

Yarrowia lipolytica (YL) is a “non-conventional” yeast that is capable of producing important metabolites. One of the most important products that is secreted by this microorganism is lipase, a ubiquitous enzyme that has considerable industrial potential and can be used as a biocatalyst in the pharmaceutical, food, and environmental industries. In this work, Yarrowia lipolytica lipase (YLL) was immobilized on Lewatit and Amberlite beads and is used in the enzymatic ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of cyclic esters in the presence of different organic solvents. YLL immobilized on Amberlite XAD7HP had the higher protein adsorption (96%) and a lipolytic activity of 35 U/g. Lewatit VPOC K2629 has the higher lipolytic activity (805 U/g) and 92% of protein adsorption. The highest molecular weight (Mn 10,685 Da) was achieved at 90 °C using YLL that was immobilized on Lewatit 1026 with decane as solvent after 60 h and 100% of monomer conversion.

Chitin, a polymer of β(1–4)-linked N-acetylglucosamine found in e.g. arthropods, is a valuable resource that may be used to produce chitosan and chitooligosaccharides, two compounds with considerable industrial and biomedical potential. Deacetylating enzymes may be used to tailor the properties of chitin and its derived products. Here, we describe a novel CE4 enzyme originating from a marine Arthrobacter species (ArCE4A). Crystal structures of this novel deacetylase were determined, with and without bound chitobiose [(GlcNAc)2], and refined to 2.1 Å and 1.6 Å, respectively. In-depth biochemical characterization showed that ArCE4A has broad substrate specificity, with higher activity against longer oligosaccharides. Mass spectrometry-based sequencing of reaction products generated from a fully acetylated pentamer showed that internal sugars are more prone to deacetylation than the ends. These enzyme properties are discussed in the light of the structure of the enzyme-ligand complex, which adds valuable information to our still rather limited knowledge on enzyme-substrate interactions in the CE4 family.