Recycling and Value-Added Utilization of Secondary Resources

A special issue of Processes (ISSN 2227-9717). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental and Green Processes".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2025 | Viewed by 1551

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of New Energy and Materials, China University of Petroleum, Beijing, China
Interests: secondary resources recovery; critical metal separation

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
Interests: lithium-ion battery recycling; cathode material; vanadium; hydrometallurg; life cycle assessment

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Collaborative Innovation Center of Steel Technology, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, China
Interests: recovery of valuable elements from metallurgical waste; molten slag; vanadium flow battery; MOF

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Emerging secondary resources have been regarded as a huge wealth for direct conversion to value-added products. There are numerous papers that focus on the upcycling of spent batteries for advanced energy stored materials, carbon conversion catalysts, and electrocatalysts. Moreover, waste plastics are appropriate alternatives for high-value nitrogenated chemicals, carbon nanomaterials, and so on. Therefore, this Special Issue, entitled “Recycling and Value-Added Utilization of Secondary Resources”, is aimed at the technology and process development for the sustainable conversion of secondary resources to value-added products. Topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Characteristics of secondary resources (e.g., spent batteries, plastics);
  • Upcycling and upgrading strategies from wastes;
  • Value-added product recoveries and applications;
  • Deep separation, purification and simulation;
  • Material flow analysis and lifecycle assessment;
  • Sustainable circular economy design and discussion;
  • Use of biodegradable materials.

Dr. Jiawei Wen
Dr. Wenhao Yu
Dr. Shiyuan Liu
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. Processes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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

  • value-added utilization
  • secondary resources
  • recovery
  • critical metal
  • upcycling
  • lifecycle assessment

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

14 pages, 1996 KiB  
Article
High-Performance La-, Mo-, and W-Doped NiFe-Layered Double Hydroxide for Methyl Orange Dye and Cr(VI) Adsorption
by Ting Guan, Liang Fang, Fang Wu and Yongxia Yang
Processes 2025, 13(1), 156; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr13010156 - 8 Jan 2025
Viewed by 737
Abstract
NiFe-layered double hydroxide (NiFe-LDH) and La-, Mo- or W-doped NiFe-LDH microparticles (NiFeX-LDH, X = La, Mo, W) were synthesized via the co-precipitation method. Their adsorption characteristics were evaluated by the removal of methyl orange (MO) and hexavalent chromium (Cr6+). The effects [...] Read more.
NiFe-layered double hydroxide (NiFe-LDH) and La-, Mo- or W-doped NiFe-LDH microparticles (NiFeX-LDH, X = La, Mo, W) were synthesized via the co-precipitation method. Their adsorption characteristics were evaluated by the removal of methyl orange (MO) and hexavalent chromium (Cr6+). The effects of the metal ion doping type, doping concentration (0–3at%), pH and temperature on the MO adsorption properties were systematically studied. The results show that W-doped NiFe-LDH exhibits superior MO removal capacity compared to undoped or La- or Mo-doped NiFe-LDH at the same 1at% doping level, which is attributed to the increased layer charge density and strong affinity for the π-electron systems of MO molecules. The NiFeW-LDH-1at% sample demonstrated the best MO adsorption performance within the W-doping range of 0–3at%, achieving a superior adsorption capability of 666.67 mg/g with a significantly shorter equilibrium time (10–120 min) compared to the similar LDH. NiFeW-LDH-1at% showed promising reusability, with its adsorption efficiency remaining 78.3% of its initial level after five adsorption–desorption cycles. The MO uptake onto NiFeX-LDH was attributed to the combined effect of anion exchange and the attraction of layer charge. In addition, the adsorption of NiFeW-LDH-1at% matched well with the Langmuir isotherm model and pseudo-second-order kinetic model, indicating a monolayer and chemical adsorption. Furthermore, NiFeW-LDH-1at% effectively adsorbed of Cr2O72− in the aqueous solution, revealing that W doping significantly enhances Cr(VI) removal performance. The maximum theoretical adsorption capacity onto NiFeW-LDH-1at% reached 63.25 mg/g, which was notably higher than that of the pristine NiFe-LDH adsorbent (53.56 mg/g). Overall, the W-doped NiFe-LDH material, as a low-cost and highly efficient adsorbent, shows great potential for wastewater treatment application. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recycling and Value-Added Utilization of Secondary Resources)
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Review

Jump to: Research

21 pages, 319 KiB  
Review
Strategies for Strontium Recovery/Elimination from Various Sources
by Jose Ignacio Robla, Lorena Alcaraz and Francisco Jose Alguacil
Processes 2025, 13(3), 807; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr13030807 - 10 Mar 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 601
Abstract
Not having the same grade of popularity as other metals like rare earth elements, gold, copper, etc., strontium is a chemical element with wide uses in daily life, which is why it appears in the EU 2023 list of Critical Raw Materials. Among [...] Read more.
Not having the same grade of popularity as other metals like rare earth elements, gold, copper, etc., strontium is a chemical element with wide uses in daily life, which is why it appears in the EU 2023 list of Critical Raw Materials. Among the sources (with celestine serving as the raw material) used to recover the element, the recycling of some Sr-bearing secondary wastes is under consideration, and it is also worth mentioning the interest in the removal of strontium from radioactive effluents. To reach these goals, several technological alternatives are being proposed, with the most widely used being the adsorption of strontium or one of its isotopes on solid materials. The present work reviews the most recent advances (for 2024) in the utilization of diverse technologies, including leaching, adsorption, liquid–liquid extraction, etc., in the recovery/elimination of Sr(II) and common 90Sr and 85Sr radionuclides present in different solid or liquid wastes. While adsorption and membrane technologies are useful for treating Sr-diluted solutions (in the mg/L order), liquid–liquid extraction is more suitable for the treatment of Sr-concentrated solutions (in the g/L order). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recycling and Value-Added Utilization of Secondary Resources)
Back to TopTop