Call for papers/Topics

Topics of interest for submission include any topics related to:

1. Green Chemical Engineering

These topics focus on the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances.

• The 12 Principles of Green Chemistry: Waste prevention, atom economy, less hazardous chemical syntheses, designing safer chemicals, safer solvents and auxiliaries, design for energy efficiency, use of renewable feedstocks, reduce derivatives, catalysis, design for degradation, real-time analysis for pollution prevention, and inherently safer chemistry for accident prevention.

• Green Solvents and Reaction Media: Supercritical fluids (e.g., CO₂, water), ionic liquids, deep eutectic solvents (DES), bio-based solvents (e.g., ethyl lactate), and solvent-free reactions.

• Process Intensification: Microreactors and spinning disk reactors, modular chemical manufacturing, microwave- and ultrasound-assisted synthesis, and reactive distillation.

• Catalysis and Biocatalysis: Heterogeneous and homogeneous green catalysis, biomimetic catalysts, and enzyme immobilization techniques.

2. Bioscience & Bioprocess Engineering

This domain leverages biological systems, organisms, or derivatives to develop products and processes for sustainable industries.

• Metabolic Engineering & Synthetic Biology: Genetic modification of microbes for chemical production, CRISPR applications in metabolic pathways, and cell-free protein synthesis.

• Bioreactor Design & Fermentation Technology: Batch, fed-batch, and continuous bioreactors; scale-up challenges in bioprocessing; gas fermentation (e.g., syngas, CO₂ utilization); and downstream processing and purification of biomolecules.

• Industrial Biotechnology (White Biotech): Bio-based production of polymers, organic acids, and fine chemicals; and enzymatic degradation of industrial waste.

• Agricultural and Food Bioscience: Sustainable crop engineering for climate resilience, cellular agriculture (lab-grown meat), and valorization of agricultural residues.

3. Energy & Environmental Sustainability

This pillars addresses the transition away from fossil fuels and the mitigation of human impacts on ecosystems.

• Renewable Energy Systems: Solar photovoltaics and advanced materials, wind energy engineering, next-generation geothermal and tidal power, and grid integration and smart energy storage.

• Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS): Post-combustion and pre-combustion carbon capture, direct air capture (DAC), geological carbon sequestration, and mineralization.

• Water-Energy-Food Nexus: Sustainable desalination technologies, wastewater treatment and resource recovery, and precision agriculture and water conservation.

• Pollution Control and Remediation: Bioremediation and phytoremediation of contaminated soils/water, advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), and air pollution control technologies.

4. Interrelated & Convergence Topics

The most impactful innovations occur where Green Chemical Engineering, Bioscience, and Sustainability overlap.

• Biorefineries and Waste Valorization:

  • Lignocellulosic Biorefineries: Fractionation of biomass into cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin.

  • Waste-to-Energy & Waste-to-Chemicals: Anaerobic digestion for biogas, pyrolysis, and gasification of municipal solid waste.

• The Bioeconomy & Circular Economy:

  • Bio-based Plastics and Materials: Synthesis and biodegradation of PLA, PHA, and starch-based plastics.

  • Closed-Loop Supply Chains: Design for recycling (DfR) in chemical manufacturing and industrial symbiosis (where one industry's waste becomes another's feedstock).

• Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) & Advanced Biofuels:

  • First to Fourth-Generation Biofuels: Biodiesel, bioethanol, cellulosic ethanol, and algae-based fuels.

  • Electro-fuels (e-fuels): Combining captured CO₂ with green hydrogen via biochemical or thermochemical pathways.

• The Hydrogen Economy:

  • Green Hydrogen Production: Water electrolysis powered by renewable energy.

  • Biohydrogen: Dark fermentation and photo-fermentation by microorganisms.

  • Hydrogen Storage and Transport: Ammonia as a hydrogen carrier, liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHCs), and fuel cell optimization.

• Electrochemical and Photochemical Engineering:

  • Electrocatalytic CO₂ Reduction: Converting carbon dioxide into fuels (methanol, ethylene) using renewable electricity.

  • Artificial Photosynthesis: Hybrid biological-synthetic systems that mimic plants to produce chemical energy from sunlight.

• Systems Sustainability Assessment:

  • Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): Quantifying environmental impacts from cradle to grave.

  • Techno-Economic Analysis (TEA): Evaluating the financial viability of green and bioscience technologies.

  • Exergy Analysis: Assessing thermodynamic efficiency and energy quality degradation in green processes.