Sustainable Nanoscale Engineering: From Materials Design to Chemical Processing

458 Pages·2019·63.7 MB·English

by  Gyorgy Szekely (editor)

SUSTAINABLE
NANOSCALE
ENGINEERING
FROM MATERIALS DESIGN TO
CHEMICAL PROCESSING
Edited by
Gyorgy Szekely
Advanced Membranesand PorousMaterials Center,
Physical Scienceand EngineeringDivision (PSE),
King Abdullah University ofScienceandTechnology (KAUST),
Thuwal, Saudi Arabia & SchoolofChemical Engineering &Analytical Science,
The University ofManchester, Manchester, UnitedKingdom
Andrew Livingston
BarrerCentre, Department ofChemical Engineering,
Imperial College London, London,UnitedKingdom
Elsevier
Radarweg29,POBox211,1000AEAmsterdam,Netherlands
TheBoulevard,LangfordLane,Kidlington,OxfordOX51GB,UnitedKingdom
50HampshireStreet,5thFloor,Cambridge,MA02139,UnitedStates
Copyright©2020ElsevierInc.Allrightsreserved.
Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproducedortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronicormechanical,includingphotocopying,
recording,oranyinformationstorageandretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublisher.Detailsonhowtoseek
permission,furtherinformationaboutthePublisher’spermissionspoliciesandourarrangementswithorganizationssuchastheCopyright
ClearanceCenterandtheCopyrightLicensingAgency,canbefoundatourwebsite:www.elsevier.com/permissions.
ThisbookandtheindividualcontributionscontainedinitareprotectedundercopyrightbythePublisher(otherthanasmaybenotedherein).
Notices
Knowledgeandbestpracticeinthisfieldareconstantlychanging.Asnewresearchandexperiencebroadenourunderstanding,changesin
researchmethods,professionalpractices,ormedicaltreatmentmaybecomenecessary.
Practitionersandresearchersmustalwaysrelyontheirownexperienceandknowledgeinevaluatingandusinganyinformation,methods,
compounds,orexperimentsdescribedherein.Inusingsuchinformationormethodstheyshouldbemindfuloftheirownsafetyandthesafety
ofothers,includingpartiesforwhomtheyhaveaprofessionalresponsibility.
Tothefullestextentofthelaw,neitherthePublishernortheauthors,contributors,oreditors,assumeanyliabilityforanyinjuryand/or
damagetopersonsorpropertyasamatterofproductsliability,negligenceorotherwise,orfromanyuseoroperationofanymethods,
products,instructions,orideascontainedinthematerialherein.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
AcatalogrecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheLibraryofCongress
BritishLibraryCataloguing-in-PublicationData
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
ISBN:978-0-12-814681-1
ForinformationonallElsevierpublicationsvisitourwebsite
athttps://www.elsevier.com/books-and-journals
Publisher:JoeHayton
AcquisitionEditor:KostasKIMarinakis
EditorialProjectManager:EmmaHayes
ProductionProjectManager:MariaBernard
CoverDesigner:MarkRogers
TypesetbyTNQTechnologies
Tomysupportingparents,GyongyiandGyorgy,whowerealwaysthereforme.Tomywonderfulwife,Mayamin,withoutwhose
never-failingpatiencethisbookwouldhavenotbeencompleted.Tomybelovedbabygirl,Alessia,whoalwayscheersmeupwith
hercutenessnomatterwhat.Tomyfriend,Pe´ter,whosecontinuouscriticism,strangely,motivatesmetotryturningtheworlda
better place. To my friends and colleagues, Jo´zsi and Jeong, for sharing their knowledge and wisdom beyond science. Without
their love andsupport nothing would have been possible.
Gyorgy Szekely
Oneofthegreatestpleasuresinlifeistoimagineaworldtomorrow,wherethingsthatarenotpossibletodaycometopass,and
thentoworktomakethosethingsreal.Toallmycurrentandformerresearchstudentsandpostdoccolleagues,withoutwhom
none of the pleasuresthat research has givenme would have come to pass.
Andrew Livingston
v
Contributors
ZahraAbbasi DepartmentofChemical Engineering, WenXiaoGai DepartmentofChemicalandBiomolecular
MonashUniversity,Clayton,VIC,Australia Engineering,National UniversityofSingapore,Singapore
MohamedHamadaAbdelKodous Centerfor A´ngelGala´n-Martı´n InstituteforChemicaland
Nanotechnology(CNT),SchoolofEngineeringandApplied Bioengineering,DepartmentofChemistryandApplied
Sciences,NileUniversity,SheikhZayed,Giza,Egypt Biosciences,ETHZu¨rich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg1,Zu¨rich,
CallieW.Babbitt GolisanoInstitute forSustainability, Switzerland
RochesterInstituteofTechnology,Rochester,NY,United Andre´sGonza´lez-Garay DepartmentofChemical
States Engineering,CentreforProcessSystem Engineering,
PeterM.Budd SchoolofChemistry,Universityof ImperialCollegeLondon,SouthKensingtonCampus,
London,UnitedKingdom
Manchester,Manchester,UnitedKingdom
ZhenLeiCheng DepartmentofChemicalandBiomolecular GonzaloGuille´n-Gosa´lbez InstituteforChemical and
Engineering,NationalUniversity ofSingapore,Singapore Bioengineering,DepartmentofChemistryandApplied
Biosciences,ETHZu¨rich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg1,Zu¨rich,
Tai-ShungChung Department ofChemicaland
Switzerland
BiomolecularEngineering, NationalUniversity of
JohnD.Hayler ChemicalDevelopment, GlaxoSmithKline,
Singapore,Singapore
Hertfordshire,UnitedKingdom
Marc-OlivierCoppens CentreforNatureInspired
Engineering,DepartmentofChemicalEngineering, IstvanT.Horvath DepartmentofChemistry,CityUniversity
ofHongKong, Kowloon,HongKong
UniversityCollegeLondon,London,UnitedKingdom
JoaquinCoronas ChemicalandEnvironmentalEngineering JaisonJeevanandam DepartmentofChemical Engineering,
Department,InstitutodeNanocienciadeArago´n(INA)and CurtinUniversity,CDT250Miri, Sarawak,Malaysia
InstitutodeCienciadeMaterialesde Arago´n(ICMA), YilaiJiao ShenyangNationalLaboratory forMaterials
UniversidaddeZaragoza-CSIC, Zaragoza,Spain Science,Institute ofMetalResearch,ChineseAcademyof
LeventeCseri SchoolofChemicalEngineering&Analytical Sciences,Shenyangcity,Liaoningprovince,P.R. China
Science,University ofManchester,The Mill,Manchester, MartinD.Johnson SmallMoleculeDesignand
UnitedKingdom Development,EliLillyandCompany,Lilly Research
YueCui DepartmentofChemicalandBiomolecular Laboratory,Indianapolis, IN,UnitedStates
Engineering,NationalUniversity ofSingapore,Singapore C.OliverKappe ResearchCenterPharmaceutical
MichaelK.Danquah Chemical EngineeringDepartment, EngineeringGmbH(RCPE),CenterforContinuous Flow
SynthesisandProcessing(CCFLOW),Graz,Austria;
UniversityofTennessee, Chattanooga,Tennessee,United
States InstituteofChemistry,UniversityofGraz,Graz,Austria
EnricoDrioli InstituteonMembraneTechnology(ITM- Ru¨stemKec¸ili YunusEmreVocationalSchoolofHealth
Services,DepartmentofMedicalServicesandTechniques,
CNR),Rende,Cosenza,Italy
AnadoluUniversity,Eskisehir,Turkey
ArzuErso¨z Faculty ofScience, ChemistryDepartment,
KentaKokado DepartmentofChemistry,FacultyofScience,
EskisehirTechnical University,Eskisehir,Turkey;Bionkit
Ltd.,TechnologyPark,Eskisehir,Turkey HokkaidoUniversity,Sapporo,Hokkaido,Japan
XiaoleiFan SchoolofChemical EngineeringandAnalytical BradleyP.Ladewig DepartmentofChemicalEngineering,
ImperialCollegeLondon,London,UnitedKingdom;
Science,TheUniversityofManchester,Manchester,Greater
InstituteforMicroProcessEngineering(IMVT),Karlsruhe
Manchester,UnitedKingdom
InstituteforTechnology,Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen,
AnthonyG.Fane UNESCOCentreforMembraneScience&
Germany
Technology,UniversityofNewSouthWales, Sydney,
AlexeiLapkin DepartmentofChemicalEngineeringand
Australia;SingaporeMembraneTechnologyCentre,
Biotechnology,UniversityofCambridge,Cambridge,
NanyangTechnologicalUniversity,Singapore
UnitedKingdom;CambridgeCentreforAdvanced
Maria-ChiaraFerrari SchoolofEngineering,TheUniversity
ResearchandEducationinSingaporeLtd,Singapore
ofEdinburgh,Edinburgh, UnitedKingdom
xi
xii
Contributors
ElsaLasseuguette SchoolofEngineering, TheUniversity of VarshaSharma SRMResearchInstitute, SRMInstituteof
Edinburgh, Edinburgh,UnitedKingdom ScienceandTechnology,Kattankulathur,Kanchipuram,
PhantisaLimleamthong DepartmentofChemical TamilNadu, India
Engineering,Centrefor ProcessSystem Engineering, JaeEunShin DepartmentofEnergyEngineering,Hanyang
ImperialCollegeLondon,SouthKensingtonCampus, University,Seoul, RepublicofKorea
London,UnitedKingdom RichardL.Smith,Jr. TohokuUniversity,Sendai,Miyagi-ken,
RyanP.Lively SchoolofChemical&Biomolecular Japan
Engineering,GeorgiaInstituteofTechnology,Atlanta,GA, AnandhakumarSundaramurthy SRMResearchInstitute,
UnitedStates SRMInstituteofScienceandTechnology,Kattankulathur,
AndrewLivingston BarrerCentre,DepartmentofChemical Kanchipuram,TamilNadu,India;DepartmentofPhysics
Engineering,ImperialCollegeLondon,London,United andNanotechnology,SRMInstituteofScienceand
Kingdom Technology,Kattankulathur,Kanchipuram,TamilNadu,
YaoMa SchoolofChemical&Biomolecular Engineering, India
GeorgiaInstituteofTechnology,Atlanta,GA,UnitedStates GyorgySzekely AdvancedMembranes andPorous
KiyoshiMatsuyama FukuokaInstitute ofTechnology, MaterialsCenter,PhysicalScienceandEngineering
Division (PSE),KingAbdullahUniversity ofScienceand
Fukuoka,Fukuoka-ken,Japan
Technology(KAUST),Thuwal,SaudiArabia;Schoolof
FarhadMoghadam DepartmentofEnergyEngineering,
ChemicalEngineering&AnalyticalScience,TheUniversity
HanyangUniversity,Seoul, RepublicofKorea
ofManchester,Manchester,UnitedKingdom
ChandranMurugan SRMResearch Institute, SRMInstitute
KamC.Tam DepartmentofChemicalEngineering,Waterloo
ofScienceandTechnology,Kattankulathur,Kanchipuram,
InstituteforNanotechnology,University ofWaterloo, 200
TamilNadu, India
UniversityAvenueWest,Waterloo, Canada
MasamiNaya DepartmentofChemistry,FacultyofScience,
PanagiotisTrogadas Centrefor NatureInspired
HokkaidoUniversity,Sapporo,Hokkaido,Japan
Engineering, DepartmentofChemical Engineering,
SuzanaP.Nunes KingAbdullahUniversity ofScienceand UniversityCollegeLondon,London,UnitedKingdom
Technology(KAUST),BiologicalandEnvironmental
BernhardtL.Trout DepartmentofChemical Engineering,
ScienceandEngineering(BESE),AdvancedMembranes
MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology,Cambridge,MA,
andPorousMaterialsCenter,Thuwal,Saudi Arabia
UnitedStates
KaushikPal DepartmentofNanotechnology,Bharath
IkuoUshiki HiroshimaUniversity,Hiroshima, Hiroshima-
University,BIHER ResearchPark, Selaiyur,Chennai,Tamil
ken,Japan
Nadu,India
LuigiVaccaro Laboratory ofGreenS.O.C., Dipartimentodi
HoBumPark DepartmentofEnergyEngineering,Hanyang
Chimica,BiologiaeBiotecnologie,Universita` degliStudidi
University,Seoul,RepublicofKorea
PerugiaPerugia,Italy
CamillePetit TheBarrerCentre,DepartmentofChemical
ChunFengWan DepartmentofChemicalandBiomolecular
Engineering,ImperialCollegeLondon,London,United
Engineering, NationalUniversityofSingapore,Singapore
Kingdom
HuantingWang DepartmentofChemicalEngineering,
CarlosPozo DepartmentofChemicalEngineering, Centre
MonashUniversity,Clayton,VIC,Australia
forProcessSystemEngineering, ImperialCollegeLondon,
SouthKensingtonCampus,London,UnitedKingdom EcevitYılmaz YLSConsultingAB,Va¨xtskyddsva¨gen,
Alnarp,Sweden
ThalappilPradeep DepartmentofChemistry,Indian
InstituteofTechnologyMadras,Chennai,India FengyiZhang SchoolofChemical &Biomolecular
Engineering, GeorgiaInstituteofTechnology,Atlanta,GA,
JiSooRoh DepartmentofEnergyEngineering, Hanyang
UnitedStates
University,Seoul,RepublicofKorea
XiwangZhang Department ofChemicalEngineering,
KazukiSada DepartmentofChemistry,Faculty ofScience,
MonashUniversity,Clayton,VIC,Australia
HokkaidoUniversity,Sapporo,Hokkaido,Japan
XiangliangZhang MachineIntelligence&Knowledge
RıdvanSay BionkitLtd.,TechnologyPark,Eskisehir,Turkey
Engineering; Computer,Electrical andMathematical
GiuliaSchukraft TheBarrerCentre,Departmentof ScienceandEngineeringDivision(CEMSE),KingAbdullah
ChemicalEngineering, ImperialCollegeLondon,London, UniversityofScienceandTechnology(KAUST),Thuwal,
UnitedKingdom SaudiArabia
Acknowledgment
Very special thanks to all the contributors to this book who tirelessly worked on the individual chapters, their
revision, and proofreading. The quality of a book is entirely due to the authors and the referees who so kindly
conductedthoroughreviewsofthecomponentchapters.Theirguidanceandscrutinythroughouttheprocess,and
their wise counsel on how to improve this book, are much appreciated. The editors would like to gratefully
acknowledge the contribution of the referees, who are listed in random order along with their institutional
affiliations: Robert McNair, Hai Anh Le Phuong, Levente Cseri, Fan Fei, Christopher F Blanford (University of
Manchester, United Kingdom); Jeong F Kim (Incheon National University, Korea); Jozsef Kupai, Peter Bagi
(Budapest University of Technology & Economics, Hungary); Janet Lim Hong Ngee (Universiti Putra Malaysia,
Malaysia); Fuat Topuz, Sang-Hee Park, Mahmoud Abdul Hamid (King Abdullah University of Science &
Technology, Saudi Arabia); Sudhirkumar Shinde (Queen’s University Belfast, United Kingdom); Tibor Holtzl
(Furukawa Electric, Hungary); Peter Pogany (GlaxoSmithKline, United Kingdom); Jiaru Bai (University of
Cambridge, United Kingdom); Mohamed H Abdellah (University of Melbourne, Australia); Ricardo Abejo´n
(UniversidaddeCantabria,Spain);AhmedElreedy(TokyoInstituteofTechnology);HatimMachrafi(Universite´ de
Lie`ge,Belgium).Figure1.3wascreatedbyIvanDGromicho,scientificillustratoratKAUST.Thankstoeveryoneon
the Elsevier team who helped us so much. Special thanks to Emma Hayes and Maria Bernadette Vidhya, our
ever-patient Publishing Managers.
xiii
C H A P T E R
1
Challenges and Directions for Green Chemical
EngineeringdRole of Nanoscale Materials
1 2 3
Andrew Livingston , Bernhardt L. Trout , Istvan T. Horvath ,
4 5 6 7
Martin D. Johnson , Luigi Vaccaro , Joaquin Coronas , Callie W. Babbitt ,
8 9 10 11
Xiangliang Zhang , Thalappil Pradeep , Enrico Drioli , John D. Hayler ,
Kam C. Tam12, C. Oliver Kappe13,14,
Anthony G. Fane15,16, Gyorgy Szekely17,18
1BarrerCentre,DepartmentofChemicalEngineering,ImperialCollegeLondon,London,UnitedKingdom;2Departmentof
ChemicalEngineering,MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology,Cambridge,MA,UnitedStates;3DepartmentofChemistry,
CityUniversityofHongKong,Kowloon,HongKong;4SmallMoleculeDesignandDevelopment,EliLillyandCompany,
Lilly ResearchLaboratory, Indianapolis, IN, United States; 5Laboratory of Green S.O.C., Dipartimento diChimica,
Biologia eBiotecnologie, Universita` degli Studi diPerugiaPerugia, Italy; 6Chemical and Environmental Engineering
Department,Institutode Nanociencia de Arago´n (INA) andInstituto deCienciade Materiales deArago´n (ICMA),
UniversidaddeZaragoza-CSIC,Zaragoza,Spain;7GolisanoInstituteforSustainability,RochesterInstituteofTechnology,
Rochester,NY,UnitedStates;8MachineIntelligence&kNowledgeEngineering;Computer,ElectricalandMathematical
Science and EngineeringDivision(CEMSE), KingAbdullah University ofScience andTechnology (KAUST), Thuwal,
SaudiArabia;9DepartmentofChemistry,IndianInstituteofTechnologyMadras,Chennai,India;10InstituteonMembrane
Technology(ITM-CNR),Rende, Cosenza, Italy; 11Chemical Development, GlaxoSmithKline,Hertfordshire, United
Kingdom;12Department of Chemical Engineering, WaterlooInstitute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo,200
UniversityAvenueWest,Waterloo,Canada;13ResearchCenterPharmaceuticalEngineeringGmbH(RCPE),Centerfor
ContinuousFlowSynthesisandProcessing(CCFLOW),Graz,Austria;14InstituteofChemistry,UniversityofGraz,Graz,
Austria; 15UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science &Technology, University ofNew South Wales, Sydney, Australia;
16Singapore Membrane TechnologyCentre, NanyangTechnologicalUniversity,Singapore; 17Advanced Membranes and
PorousMaterials Center, Physical Scienceand Engineering Division (PSE), KingAbdullah University ofScienceand
Technology(KAUST),Thuwal,SaudiArabia;18SchoolofChemicalEngineering&AnalyticalScience,TheUniversityof
Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
O U T L I N E
1. Introduction 2 4. Greenand Sustainable Raw Materials for
Chemical Manufacturing 6
2. From Green Chemistry toSustainable Chemical
Engineering 4 5. The Role of Green SolventsinChemical
Manufacturing 8
3. The Promise ofContinuous Processing and
Monitoring 5 6. The Quest for Clean Water 8
SustainableNanoscaleEngineering 1
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-814681-1.00001-1 Copyright©2020ElsevierInc.Allrightsreserved.
2
1. ChallengesandDirectionsforGreenChemicalEngineeringdRoleofNanoscaleMaterials
7. Membranes for a Greener Future 9. ArtificialIntelligence: ANew Dimension in
9
Chemical Engineering 12
8. Advanced Porous Materials for Energy-Efficient 10. The DrawbackofNanomaterials 12
Processes
10 References 14
1. Introduction
Nanotechnology and nanomaterials are among the most significant scientific and industrial research break-
throughsofthe21stcentury.Withtherapidglobalizationofscience,chemists,materialsscientists,andchemicalen-
gineersaresynergisticallyworkingtogetherworldwidetounderstandhowtomanipulatematterforthebenefitof
humankind. The Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations provide a blueprint through which a
thrivingandmoresustainablefuturecanbeachievedforall(Fig.1.1)[1].Thesegoalsaddresstheglobalchallenges
weface,andmostofthemaredirectlyaffectedbychemicalmanufacturing.Consequently,itisourresponsibilityto
design, manufactureandrecycle chemicals, and developprocesses,considering sustainability.Although thereisa
lackofconsensusonthedetailedmeaningoftheconcept[2],sustainablemanufacturing,wetakehereaworkingdefi-
nition by the United States’ Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the creation of manufactured products
through economically sound processes that minimize negative environmental impacts while conserving energy
and natural resources [3].
Thereareseveralemergingareasofnanoscaleengineeringwithgreatpromiseforsustainablechemicalengineer-
ing.Enzymes,nature’sbiocatalysts,haveoutstandingselectivityandactivityandfacilitateabroadrangeofchemical
transformations under mild reaction conditions. Besides their natural aqueous environment, there is a need for
exploringandexploitingenzymesinorganicsolvents.Theworkondirectedevolutiontoengineerenzymesearned
the2018NobelPrizeinChemistryforFrancesArnold.Enzymesengineeredthroughdirectedevolutionhavegreat
potentialinthesustainableprocessingofawidevarietyofchemicalproducts,frompharmaceuticalstobiomass.In
paralleltotheadvancementofenzymecatalysis,thefieldoforganocatalysishasemerged.Organocatalyticreactions
exploitsmall-moleculeenzymemimicsthatarerobust,safe,sustainable,metal-free,andscalable[4].Furtherdevel-
opmentsinthefieldofcatalysisbothatnanoscaleandprocessscalearecrucialtoadvancingsustainabilitybecause
morethan 90% ofchemical engineering processes utilize catalysts globally [5].
FIGURE 1.1
The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals covering 17 ambitions, most of which are impacted by chemical
manufacturing.Thechemicals,materials,andprocessesdevelopedtodaywilleithermakeorbreaktheseambitions. Reprintedwithpermissionfrom
SustainableDevelopmentGoals,UnitedNations,https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/.
3
1. Introduction
Thereareaplethoraofinnovativemethodologies,allwiththepotentialtoenablesustainableindustrialdevelop-
ment,ontherise.TheWorldEconomicForum,theInternationalUnionofPureandAppliedChemistry,andtheMIT
TechnologyReviewhavepublishedtheirownselectionsofthetop10emergingtechnologiesimprovingsustainabil-
ity[6e8].Theuniqueadvantagesofferedbyflowchemistryandflowreactorshavealreadytriggeredcompaniesto
investinresearchanddevelopment,pilotscaletests,andimplementationinproductionlines.Solvent-freereactive
extrusion for mechanochemical synthesis and 3D printing of advanced engineering materials are emerging fields,
with implementation and scale-up challenges yet to be solved. For about half-a-century, there has been a race to
develop artificial leaves to efficiently mimic photosynthesis and transforming carbon dioxide into liquid fuel
[9,10]. The production of liquefiable hydrocarbons from excess carbon dioxide, water, and other sustainable
resources such as sunlight will create new opportunities for energy storage. Despite the tremendous efforts, these
ideas are in their infancy, and it is essential that the enabling process development keeps pace with the scientific
breakthroughs. Speaking about his startup using hydrogen-producing artificial leaves, Nocera lamented that “I
didaholygrailofscience.Great!Thatdoesn’tmeanIdidaholygrailoftechnology,”[9]highlightingtheimportance
of scale and engineering.
Recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI), in particular deep learning and generative adversarial
networks,haveallowedmachinestomimicimagination(Fig.1.2),whichisabigleaptowardunsupervisedlearning
[11].Theseadvancedmethodologieshavemuchtoofferscientistsandengineersworkingwithlargedatabases,albeit
sufferingfromlimitationssuchasheavyrelianceonqualitydata.ThepoweroftheseadvancementsinAIcanonlybe
exploitedifresearchdataarereportedinamachine-readablemannerandmanagedinonlinedatabasesaccessibleto
everyone.Mostoftheresearchdataaremostlyreportedinimageformats,whichresultsinthelossofprecisedata
points.Options for interactive plots areon therise,andthey ought to become mandatory in thenearfuture.
There are numerous technical, engineering, and financial challenges associated with developing new, or repur-
posing conventional and existing, materials and processes to sustainable alternatives. Thanks to the increasing
efforts of the industrial sector, in particular the pharmaceutical manufacturers, the “sustainability” buzz word
has started to manifest in actions. Several companies have explicitly and publicly started using green chemistry
and engineering as key drivers and to innovate around sustainable initiatives. The next subsections and chapters
FIGURE 1.2
Aschematicpipingandinstrumentationdiagram(P&ID)consistingofstirredvessels,pumpsandmembranemodules,ther-
mostats,andadsorptioncolumnsreimaginedbyanartificialintelligence(AI)usingdeepneuralnetworks[12,13].Theweirdlyfascinatingresultis
duetothefactthattheunderstandingoftheingesteddatadoesnotpreciselytranslateintotheabilitytogeneratesimilardata,whichisoneofthe
mainlimitationsofAI.
4
1. ChallengesandDirectionsforGreenChemicalEngineeringdRoleofNanoscaleMaterials
FIGURE1.3
Therelationshipofindustriesandthestate-of-the-arttoolsenablingthemtobesustainable.
inSustainableNanoscaleEngineeringhighlightthesustainabilitypotentialofstate-of-the-artmaterialsrangingfrom
smartpolymers,through2Dmaterials,tometaleorganicframeworks(MOFs)consideringboththeirfabricationand
application(Fig.1.3).Moreover,thepotentialofcontinuousflowprocesses,lifecycleoptimization,andAIdirected
towardsustainablenanoscale engineering arealso evaluated.
Besides the direct research and development initiatives aiming at sustainable solutions, it is equally important
that we incorporate these initiatives into the chemistry, materials science, and chemical engineering curricula so
as to equip our future generations to tackle challenges with a sustainable mindset. Surely, in the not-too-distant
future, we will live in a sustainable world enabled by the fascinating materials, processes, and methodologies
described in this book.
2. From Green Chemistry to Sustainable Chemical Engineering
In the green chemistry arena, scientists are contributing to creating chemical and technological innovations
enablingmoresustainableandcompetitivechemicalproduction.Toreachthisgoal,wasteminimizationisapriority
and the adoption of catalytic protocols is preferred [14]. While much industrial manufacturing may currently still
employclassichomogeneousmethods[15],thistendencyismainlybasedoneconomicreasonsandthereforeonreg-
ulationsandprice/availabilityofmaterials.Whilenotalwayseconomicallysustainableatpresent,inthefuture,het-
erogeneous catalytic approaches will become the norm, enabling recovery of the catalytic system so that its
durability is preserved over a sufficient number of runs. Accordingly, the design of novel materials for catalysis
and suitable platform technologies for their useplays a pivotal rolein theroutetowardasustainablechemistry.
Owingtotheireasyseparationfromthereactionmixture,heterogeneoussystemsbasedonmetals[16e18],acid
[19], or base [20] catalysts have been developed using both organic and inorganic supports. Among the heteroge-
neous catalytic systems, nanomaterials and metal nanoparticlesebased catalysts have been widely studied in the
last 10 years, thanks to theirhigh surface area.In fact, it is well-known now how particle size isrelated to surface