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New Insights on Environmentally Friendly Materials

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials Science and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 March 2025 | Viewed by 4282

Special Issue Editors

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
Interests: environmental-ly friendly materials processing; recycling of waste materials and by-products; machine-learning-aided design of high-temperature materials; MD-simulations-assisted design of clean mineral fibers; structure–thermodynamics–property relationship of molten slags
School of Civil and Resources Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, China
Interests: building materials; envelopes; porous materials; foamed ceramics; phase change materials; energy-saving; thermal properties; solid waste utilization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology, Beijing, China
Interests: solid waste; refractory material; heavy metal; porous material

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are inviting submissions to this Special Issue on New Insights on Environmentally Friendly Materials.

The environmental significance of materials is attracting increasing attention with the rapid development of industry and the gradual depletion of natural resources. In contrast to traditional materials, environmentally friendly materials are consciously developed to improve the efficiency of resource and energy utilization and to reduce pollutants (waste solids, waste liquids, exhaust gases, etc.). The scope of environmentally friendly materials covers green energy materials, green building materials, environmental engineering materials, biologically functional materials, etc. Although many relevant achievements have been made in the field, it is significant to develop novel environmentally friendly materials with excellent performance using clean and green preparation technologies. There are still many critical scientific questions to be resolved in this regard. Therefore, this Special Issue plans to give new insights into environmentally friendly materials, including advanced technological innovations and optimized application fields. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Phase-change energy storage materials for secondary energy recovery;
  • Utilization of industrial and municipal solid waste in building materials;
  • Advanced materials for treatment of waste liquids and exhaust gases;
  • Bio-based materials for environmental applications;
  • Atomic-scale design of environmentally friendly materials;
  • Applications of machine learning in environmentally friendly materials;
  • Thermodynamics, first-principles calculations, and molecular dynamics simulations.

Dr. Ziwei Chen
Dr. Ru Ji
Dr. Hao Wang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • energy storage materials
  • green technology
  • sewage treatment
  • flue gas desulfurization/ denitrification
  • solid waste utilization
  • resource recovery
  • biochar-based materials
  • thermodynamics
  • artificial intelligence
  • DFT
  • MD simulations

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research, Review

3 pages, 177 KiB  
Editorial
New Insights on Environmentally Friendly Materials
by Ying Wei and Ziwei Chen
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(19), 10806; https://doi.org/10.3390/app131910806 - 28 Sep 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 801
Abstract
In recent years, the world has been confronting a growing planet-wide crisis due to uncontrolled population growth and rapid industrialization [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Insights on Environmentally Friendly Materials)

Research

Jump to: Editorial, Review

11 pages, 5201 KiB  
Article
An Innovative Heating Solution for Sustainable Agriculture: A Feasibility Study on the Integration of Phase Change Materials as Passive Heating Elements
by Stephan M. Thaler, Josef Zwatz, Pascal Nicolay, Robert Hauser and Roman Lackner
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(16), 7419; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14167419 - 22 Aug 2024
Viewed by 450
Abstract
In this study, we investigate an innovative option for the ecological management of agricultural land. The focus is on the use of phase change materials (PCMs) for passive temperature regulation in greenhouses and fruit crop fields in order to reduce yield losses due [...] Read more.
In this study, we investigate an innovative option for the ecological management of agricultural land. The focus is on the use of phase change materials (PCMs) for passive temperature regulation in greenhouses and fruit crop fields in order to reduce yield losses due to unforeseen late frost events. The use of PCMs represents a novel approach to enhancing crop growth and extending growing seasons without relying on conventional energy-intensive methods, providing a stable microclimate that can protect plants from cold stress. This passive regulation of temperature helps to reduce the need for fossil fuel-based heating systems, thereby lowering greenhouse gas emissions and operational costs. The application of PCMs in agricultural settings is particularly innovative as it leverages naturally occurring temperature variations to create a self-sustaining, low-maintenance solution that aligns with the principles of sustainable farming. This approach not only improves energy efficiency but also contributes to the resilience of agricultural practices in the face of climate variability. This study focuses on the possible use of PCMs in passive heating modules for the protection of potted plants in greenhouses. Various PCMs such as paraffin, beeswax, and shea butter were tested. Experiments were then conducted, using one kind of paraffin-based PCM, in a specially designed module. In addition, an FEM simulation model (CFD) was built and tested. The model was used to perform detailed analyses of the heat transfer efficiency, fluid dynamics, and overall performance of the modules. The model can also be used for optimization purposes (e.g., efficiency improvements). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Insights on Environmentally Friendly Materials)
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Review

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19 pages, 760 KiB  
Review
Bridging Thermochemical Technology and Ecology: Research Progress on Utilization of Factsage Software for Environmental Applications
by Hao Li, Hao Wang, Pin Lv and Hongzhi Ma
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(17), 7784; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14177784 - 3 Sep 2024
Viewed by 578
Abstract
Factsage is a robust thermodynamic calculation software that enables simulation and computation of complex multi-component and multi-phase system reactions. It has a variety of application fields such as metallurgy, energy, and environmental domains. This article elucidates the key functionalities of Factsage’s diverse modules, [...] Read more.
Factsage is a robust thermodynamic calculation software that enables simulation and computation of complex multi-component and multi-phase system reactions. It has a variety of application fields such as metallurgy, energy, and environmental domains. This article elucidates the key functionalities of Factsage’s diverse modules, including Equilib, Viscosity, EpH, Reaction, and Phase Diagram modules. Furthermore, it delineates the present usage and research progress of the software in the realms of air pollution, water pollution, and solid waste treatment. By predicting the thermodynamic properties of pollutants, their chemical reactions, and complex phase changes, Factsage provides a critical scientific foundation for environmental decision-making and optimization of waste treatment processes. It showed its greater contributions to environmental protection and sustainable development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Insights on Environmentally Friendly Materials)
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22 pages, 813 KiB  
Review
Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) as Safety Indicators in the Development of Wood-Based Binderless Boards
by Elise Bertheau, Valérie Simon and Christine Delgado Raynaud
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(3), 1266; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14031266 - 3 Feb 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1556
Abstract
Wood-based panels are ubiquitous in our daily lives, both as building materials and as furnishing materials. Numerous studies have revealed that these materials emit volatile organic compounds, such as formaldehyde, into indoor air, which can be harmful to human health. These volatile organic [...] Read more.
Wood-based panels are ubiquitous in our daily lives, both as building materials and as furnishing materials. Numerous studies have revealed that these materials emit volatile organic compounds, such as formaldehyde, into indoor air, which can be harmful to human health. These volatile organic compounds come both from the wood itself, more specifically cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, and from the resins used to bind the wood fibers or particles together. Today, new panels bonded with bio-based adhesives and binderless panels are emerging. The aim of this article is to highlight the importance of measuring VOC emissions from binderless wood-based panels, and more specifically, to identify the VOCs, originating from the wood and thermal transformation processes, likely to be emitted during the production of such panels, as well as how to sample them and measure their emissions. This work provides a useful approach to identifying and quantifying VOC emissions from these new materials. These methodologies should be applied more widely to gain knowledge about VOCs, which are relevant indicators for the development of environmentally friendly materials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Insights on Environmentally Friendly Materials)
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