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com Current Opinion in

ScienceDirect Green and Sustainable Chemistry

Nanotechnologies for the sustainable valorization of

biowastes
Maurizio Selva

This contribution aims to highlight the role of nanotechnologies number of family members, and so on of different so-
for the design of high-performance nanomaterials and nano- cioeconomic groups populating urban areas [5], thereby
devices using biowastes as feedstocks. Some recent ad- suggesting that the circular economy model will be all
vances for environmental and energy-related applications will the more effective if the differentiation and recycle of
be discussed from residual biomass of both vegetable and wastes will be practiced by every individual, regardless
animal origin. of his/her position. BWs, in particular, are an extraordi-
nary source of chemical richness whose valorization is
not only feasible and crucial to preserve life on our
Addresses
Dipartimento di Scienze Molecolari e Nanosistemi dell’Universitá Ca'
planet but also drives to create business, new technol-
Foscari di Venezia, Via Torino 155, 30175, Venezia, Mestre, Italy ogies, livelihoods, and jobs.
The present article aims to discuss recent model cases
Corresponding author: Selva, Maurizio (selva@unive.it) highlighting applications of nanotechnologies to pro-
mote the upgrading of BWs into high-added-value
nanomaterials. The concept of sustainable nanotech-
Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry 2020,
24:38–41
nologies will be here referred to the development of
areas pertinent to green and blue growth, that is, the
This review comes from a themed issue on Green and Sustainable
nanotechnology
harvesting of nanostructures and nanodevices from
renewable feedstocks [6,7].
Edited by Alina Balu and Daily Rodriguez-Padron
Nanocarbons, hybrids, and nanocomposites are excel-
Available online 13 February 2020 lent materials for their versatility and potential use in
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogsc.2020.02.005 the fabrication of a variety of devices, from sensors in
2452-2236/© 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. medicine to supercapacitor electrodes for electro-
catalysis and energy storing, bioelectronic platforms,
enhanced supports for precious metalebased catalysts,
The vision of circular economy is literally bursting
and so on [8e10]. Thanks to their high C-content,
worldwide, and it is imposing a radical change of
biodegradable wastes are an increasingly popular source
mindset transversal to all production chains from large
for the preparation of such nanosized architectures [11].
processing companies to medium/small manufacturers
A smart strategy to improve the performance of Li-
and distributors of goods and services but even more
ion batteries was proposed starting from disposable
generally to all segments of modern society including
bamboo chopsticks which represent abundant wastes
media, communications, culture, education, politics,
amounting to millions of cubic meters of timber from
and so on. Indeed, the lifestyle of billions of consumers
bamboo trees every year [12]. A hydrothermal treatment
is rapidly reshaping aimed to support a more sustainable
(delignification@150
C) in an alkaline solution (KOH
growth through an informed choice on everyday needs
3M) was first carried out to convert recycled chopsticks
such as food, clothes, cleaning products, electronics,
into cotton-like cellulose fibers. These were then mixed
travels, types of commute, energy supply, and so on.
with aqueous KMnO4 (0.04 M) and heated (150
C).
The management of wastes, particularly those of
After cooling and water evaporation, the solid residue
biodegradable origin (biowastes, BWs) certainly play a
was calcined at 550
C to afford a three-dimensional
crucial role in the sustainability scenario. This issue is
functionalized coreeshell hybrid material comprised of
becoming more and more stringent at the current rate of
a-type MnO2 nanowires immobilized on a robust shell
growth of world population, with estimates and
(3e5 mm) of a carbon fiber and intimately coated with a
perspective on wastes reporting increasingly distressing
uniform carbon layer of few nanometer thickness
numbers, for example, a cumulative quantity of 250
(Figure 1, C/MnO2 NWs/carbon fibers) [13].
million tons of mismanaged plastic waste entering the
Notably, the hybrid material proved to be an excellent
marine environment by 2025 [1], a footprint of 0.74 kg/
anode for Li-ion batteries with a reversible capacity as
person/day from the release of household waste in the
high as 710 mA h g1 effectively maintained without
major world cities [2], a global generation of 20 million
decay for up to 300 cycles.
ton/y of discards from fish processing [3,4]. Moreover,
Although under a microscope for its devastating conse-
contrary to common belief, it is also emerging that waste
quence on tropical forests, the production of palm oil is
generation is rather independent from social factors
still growing at an impressive rate with current amounts
including education, occupation, income of the family,

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 Nanotechnologies for the sustainable valorization Selva 39

Figure 1

Procedure for the preparation of a C/MnO2 NWs/carbon fiber hybrid material from disposable chopsticks. Right: scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
image of the hybrid solid, adapted from the study by Jiang et al [13].

of ca 60 Mtonnes/y and estimates of 240 Mtonnes/y by nanocarbons comprising spherical shaped particles with
2050 [14]. This industry cogenerates biomass wastes a diameter of 40e70 nm [21]. This material proved
including fruit fibers, palm shells, mill effluents, trunks, photoluminescent active in the visible region at 532,
and fronds in amounts exceeding 9 times than those of 628, and 652 nm and exhibited antibacterial activity
produced oil, meaning for major manufactures as against gram-positive and gram-negative pathogens such
Malaysia and Indonesia, a total of ca 280 Mtonnes/y as Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia Coli,
[15,16]. An interesting approach to valorize such resi- Chromobacterium violaceum.
dues was designed starting from oil palm leaves whose In the effort of designing sustainable protocols for the
pyrolytic treatment in a tube furnace at 700
C under preparation of high-performance materials, the use of
nitrogen afforded porous carbon nanoparticles with sawdust as a cheap residue of the wood refining in-
average size of 20e40 nm compatible for electro- dustries was recently explored to obtain activated
chemical applications to facilitate ion diffusion [17]. carbon fibers (ACFs) for supercapacitors [22]. After
Indeed, these (nano)materials proved suitable pre- pulverization of sawdust, a mixture of wood flour,
cursors for superior supercapacitor electrodes as they phenol, and phosphoric acid was liquefied at 160
C and
showed a specific capacitance value of 368 F/g at 0.06 A/ then placed into a spinning machine to produce fibers
g in 5 M KOH, high stability (96% over 1700 cycles), and which were finally cured in a solution of H2CO/HCl.
energy density of 13 Wh/kg. ACFs were obtained by further heating at 500 C for
With a global production of groundnut totaling 38.6 carbonization, followed by treatment with aqueous
million tons and a cultivation worldwide covering about KOH 5e30 wt% in a special activation chamber at 650e
22.2 million hectares, groundnut shells accounting for 850
C under N2 (Figure 2).
approximately 20% of the dried peanut pod by weight When activated above 800
C, the surface of ACFs was
represent another inexpensive and largely abundant BW etched by the development of porosity due to the for-
[18e20]. Controlled pyrolysis at 550e950
C under mation of metallic potassium intercalated onto the
inert atmosphere was the technique used also for carbon hexagonal structure of graphite in the samples
the treatment of this residue to fabricate (Eq. (1)).

Figure 2

Protocol for the fabrication of activated carbon fibers from sawdust. Right: scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image of the sample activated at
850
C, highlighting the presence of nanopores, adapted from the study by Yallappa et al [21].

www.sciencedirect.com Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry 2020, 24:38–41

40 Green and Sustainable nanotechnology

Figure 3

Assembly of a piezoelectric nanogenerator (PENG) using chitin nanofibers as a doping agent of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF).

6KOH þ 2C / 2K2CO3 þ 2K þ 3H2 (1) a 2.2 mF capacitor to 3.6 V within only 20 s and illu-
minated a series of 22 blue light emitting diode (LEDs),
Particularly, ultramicropores were obtained with a dis- thereby demonstrating its suitability for energy
tribution around 0.8 and 1.1 nm (SEM image, Figure 2, harvesting in biomedical applications (in vivo blood flow
right). The as-prepared fiber (ACF1) was assembled to a and heart beats), or from body movements, moving cars,
supercapacitor which exhibited an outstanding electro- sea waves, and so on (Figure 3)
chemical performance with a specific capacitance of
225 F g1 at a current density of 0.5 A g1 and 94.2%
capacity preserved after 10000 chargeedischarge cycles
Conclusions
BWs may concur to the sustainable design of carbon-
at 3 A g1.
based and hybrid nanomaterials exhibiting
Another impressive source of BWs is generated by the
outstanding properties for uses in a variety of fields,
fish processing and aquaculture industry from which
spanning from biomedicine to electronics, environ-
excellent biopolymers can be obtained. A representative
mental monitoring, packaging, and so on
example is chitin extracted from crustacean wastes as
Nanotechnology-enabled applications in these areas
shells of shrimp, crab, lobster, prawn, and krill, whose
offer potential benefits in reducing costs and toxicity,
total annual production is estimated at 2.8  107 and
while at the same improving efficiency and reliability.
1.3  109 tonnes from freshwater and marine ecosys-
In this context, green nanotechnologies not merely
tems, respectively [23,24]. Among applications of chitin
facilitate the implementation of innovative technolog-
for waste water treatment, purification processes, food
ical solutions but they contribute in determining an
additivities, packaging, controlled agrochemical release,
overall positive feedback in the life cycle assessment of
pulp and paper treatment, cosmetics, tissue engineering
complex engineered nanomaterials.
wound healing, and so on [25e28], an increasing
number of articles describe its use for the fabrication of
advanced nanomaterials. One such case has recently Conflict of interest statement
reported the use of chitin nanofibers (ChNFs) to engi- Nothing declared.
neer a piezoelectric nanogenerator [29]. Crab shells
were initially subjected to both chemical (acidebase) References
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