scholarly journals Protein nanofibrils and their use as building blocks of sustainable materials

RSC Advances ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (62) ◽  
pp. 39188-39215
Author(s):  
Christofer Lendel ◽  
Niclas Solin

Protein nanofibrils produced from renewable resources provide opportunities to create novel materials for sustainable development.

Research ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Lulu Bai ◽  
Qing Li ◽  
Ya Yang ◽  
Shengjie Ling ◽  
Haipeng Yu ◽  
...  

The development of nanogenerators (NGs) with optimal performances and functionalities requires more novel materials. Over the past decade, biopolymer nanofibers (BPNFs) have become critical sustainable building blocks in energy-related fields because they have distinctive nanostructures and properties and can be obtained from abundant and renewable resources. This review summarizes recent advances in the use of BPNFs for NG development. We will begin by introducing various strategies for fabricating BPNFs with diverse structures and performances. Then, we will systematically present the utilization of polysaccharide and protein nanofibers for NGs. We will mainly focus on the use of BPNFs to generate bulk materials with tailored structures and properties for assembling of triboelectric and piezoelectric NGs. The use of BPNFs to construct NGs for the generation of electricity from moisture and osmosis is also discussed. Finally, we illustrate our personal perspectives on several issues that require special attention with regard to future developments in this active field.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1034 ◽  
pp. 169-175
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Ciaburro

The use of recycled materials to replace natural and artificial materials represents an interesting and real possibility for all industrial sectors to contribute to the reduction of the amount of waste disposed of and non-renewable resources consumed. This study reports the results of the measurements of the sound absorption coefficient carried out on specimens obtained from the recycling of different materials. A sustainable development of our planet requires us to adopt materials recycling policies to ensure the economical use of resources. Two types of materials have been studied: material obtained from the recycling of plastic bottles, and a material obtained from the recycling of asphalt milled. Both materials showed interesting sound absorption performances covering different frequency ranges.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-230
Author(s):  
Indrasen Vencatachellum

This article uses the recent concept of ‘creative economy’ to argue in favour of a dynamic and holistic approach to the promotion of the cultural heritage. This implies namely that the heritage is viewed in both its material and intangible forms and as a driver of sustainable development. After an overview of the diverse interpretations, at natioanl, regional and international levels, of the creative economy, the author illustrates how the cultural heritage can benefit from the growing importance given to unlilited, renewable resources for the development of individuals and communities, especially in the developing countries. The article contains, however, words of caution on the negative effects of the creative economy and submits that these can be overcomed by extending the sphere of the cultural heritage to all areas of developement.


2012 ◽  
Vol 524-527 ◽  
pp. 673-676
Author(s):  
Zhi Tao Ma ◽  
Sai Jiang Liang ◽  
Yong Ping Wang

Coal is one of the non-renewable resources, and in our country at present also is the main source of energy. It is very important to improve the coal mining rate, to exploit and to use the coal reasonably. Saving coal resource is an important measure for our coal industries sustainable development. Because large amounts of coal under complex conditions caused by fully mechanized mining can not be mined, the rotation mining with large angle for unequal and fully mechanized mining face and its design and main parameters are introduced in this article based on an engineering practice. Using this mining method, the coal under complex condition can be mined as much as possible. It is helpful for us to improve coal mining rate and to economize coal resources.


Author(s):  
Katarzyna Osiecka-Brzeska

The Paper examines legal and financial tools which are used in Poland to succor the development of energy from renewable resources. In the first part a definition of sustainable development is given and the short history of this idea is shown. Then the concept of Sustainable energy is introduced. The second part describes main policies of European Union on sustainable policy and the Polish Legal System on Renewable Energy is described. The fifth part of the paper analyzes the sustainable development indicators provided by Eurostat for the energy produced from renewable resources. there are 6 indicators analyzed. In the end the forecasts for the development of RES in Poland is given. There are clues for development of different technologies in different provinces of Poland. There are also forecasts for the development of the renewable energy market in Poland.


2019 ◽  
Vol 74 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 91-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wissam Farhat ◽  
Arne Stamm ◽  
Maxime Robert-Monpate ◽  
Antonino Biundo ◽  
Per-Olof Syrén

Abstract Accelerated generation of bio-based materials is vital to replace current synthetic polymers obtained from petroleum with more sustainable options. However, many building blocks available from renewable resources mainly contain unreactive carbon-carbon bonds, which obstructs their efficient polymerization. Herein, we highlight the potential of applying biocatalysis to afford tailored functionalization of the inert carbocyclic core of multicyclic terpenes toward advanced materials. As a showcase, we unlock the inherent monomer reactivity of norcamphor, a bicyclic ketone used as a monoterpene model system in this study, to afford polyesters with unprecedented backbones. The efficiencies of the chemical and enzymatic Baeyer–Villiger transformation in generating key lactone intermediates are compared. The concepts discussed herein are widely applicable for the valorization of terpenes and other cyclic building blocks using chemoenzymatic strategies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katundu Imasiku ◽  
Valerie Thomas ◽  
Etienne Ntagwirumugara

Green information technology systems (Green ITS) are proposed as a strategy to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions and other environmental impacts while supporting ecological sustainable development. The Green ITS concept combines both Green information technology (IT) and Green information system (IS) applications. The Green ITS concept has the potential to combat the carbon emission problem globally, beyond simply Green IT, because it combines management, organizational, and technology dimensions of climate change mitigation and adaptation, especially if supported by global policy. Examples include life cycle assessment software for measuring GHG emissions, and software for monitoring GHG emissions. Previous studies on environmental burdens such as GHGs, water and air pollution, energy losses and other forms of waste alongside socio-economic dependent variables including renewable resources and climate change policies are reviewed and synthesized. The research analysis conjointly points to the usage of renewable resources such as solar and wind as a critical strategy to scale back GHG emissions and enhance green growth. Empirical evidence shows that developed countries can reduce their carbon emissions while developing countries can utilize carbon emission-free technologies as they aspire to achieve development. The two significant benefits of the Green ITS strategy are first, to provide the environmental benefits of reducing greenhouse emissions and other environmental impacts and second, to enhance global green growth, which supports achievement of ecological sustainable development. Green ITS tools support achievement of the UN SDG 7, 13 and 15, which emphasize clean energy, climate action and ecological sustainable development, respectively. Future research directions include the formulation of a strategy to combat GHGs and design of a system to monitor carbon emissions and other waste remotely.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (15) ◽  
pp. 6207
Author(s):  
Carla Andrade Arteaga ◽  
Raúl Rodríguez-Rodríguez ◽  
Juan-José Alfaro-Saiz ◽  
María-José Verdecho

This paper presents a methodology for quantifying the impact of Total Quality Management TQM elements on organisational strategic sustainable development, integrating within it the well-known strategic management tool of Balanced Scorecard to represent the strategic part of the organisations, and the multi-criteria technique Analytic Network Process (ANP) to identify and quantify the mentioned impact. Additionally, the application of TQM generates directly some organisational improvements—or outputs—which help model a decisional ANP network constituted by all three building blocks—TQM elements, strategic objectives and outputs—and their interrelationships. The application of the methodology to an oil firm carried out by an expert group offered, from a decision-making point of view, meaningful results that were developed following three different analyses: Global analysis, which identified the global weight of each variable; Analysis of Influences, which established sound cause–effect relationships between the variables to identify the elements—TQM and outputs—that are more important to achieve the strategic objectives; and the Integrated analysis, which pointed out which TQM elements should be fostered in order to achieve the most important sustainable strategic objectives. Finally, it is suggested to apply the methodology to other types of size and sector activity organisations, as well as to use other techniques that introduce fuzzy elements.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (24) ◽  
pp. 7179
Author(s):  
Daniel S. Oh

As the smart city concept and applications continue to evolve, traditional architects and urban designers are facing an increasingly uncertain future. This paper outlines an innovative educational format to bolster and perpetuate the interdisciplinary nature of architects and urban designers that resonates with both sustainable development (SD) and smart cities (SCs). By applying ‘connective knowledge’ to the concept of interdisciplinarity education, a method was established that uses the SC concept to expand upon and create a bridge between distant disciplines in the context of higher education sustainable development (HESD). As a complementary educational pedagogy to the ‘whole institution approach’ to reduce barriers in higher education institutions (HEIs), this paper highlights an opportunity to apply the SC concept as a basis to construct an interdisciplinary design workshop to focus on building inter-personal competence, targeting university-level students majoring in architecture and urban design. The design workshop used microcontrollers and sensors as these are scalable and easily learnt building blocks of the Internet of Things and SCs. The inter-disciplinary workshop ran for 16 weeks with 14 students majoring in architecture and urban design and electrical engineering. Based on interviews and course evaluations, the experiment was vetted using capacities of inter-personal competence in sustainable development. A series of insights and findings from the design workshop indicated positive initial outcomes that were used to form a set of working criteria for the interdisciplinary design workshop. Future work will include structuring empirical data collection and analysis and expanding collaborations with other distant disciplines such as public administration and social innovation, as delineated by the SC concept.


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