Guest Editors
Dr. Hwei Voon Lee, Associate Professor, Nanotechnology and Catalysis Research Centre (NANOCAT), Universiti Malaya, Malaysia.
Dr Lee is an Associate Professor based in the Nanotechnology and Catalysis Research Centre (NANOCAT), University of Malaya, Malaysia. She obtained her BSc (Hons) Industrial Chemistry and PhD in Catalysis degrees from the Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia. Her research expertise is in the field of nanotechnology and catalysis. She is active in the research of catalytic conversion technology, which involves the topics of catalysis design (metal oxide, solid based catalyst, catalyst from waste material); application in renewable energy (liquid and solid biofuels), biochemical synthesis, and advance nanomaterial application (biomass-derived nanocellulose).
To date, Dr Lee’s research works have been published in more than 80 refereed international top-tier journals, with total citation of 4158 and h-index of 36. Her research has been funded by the Ministry of Higher Education of Malaysia; Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of Malaysia (MOSTI), University of Malaya Research Grant, as well as International Industrial Fundings. The efforts in contributing to her research has received recognition with Excellence service award, University of Malaya 2021, as well as several prestigious innovation and invention awards, such as World's Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University (2020), Asian Universities Alliance (AUA) Scholars Award (2020), etc.
Summary
Municipal solid waste (MSW) is non-hazardous disposable materials that are generated from everyday activities by households, institutions, industries, agriculture, and sewage. Every year, approximately 2.01 billion tons of MSW is generated with an expected fast growth rate to 3.40 billion tons by 2050. Inappropriate MSW management will result in serious air, soil, and groundwater pollution, which brings vast implications to the environment, health, and prosperity. Generally, more than 50% of municipal waste is from organic fractions (e.g. food waste, garden waste, papers and cardboards wastes, wood, plastics wastes, rubbers/leathers, and textile wastes), while the rest of non-organic (inorganic) contents are glasses and metals. The bio-based waste in organic portions is composed of important compounds such as biogenic carbon, biogenic minerals (e.g. calcium carbonate, phosphates, and silica compound), polysaccharides (starch/cellulose and hemicellulose), and aromatic polymer (lignin). Thus, it is important to valorize organic wastes for sustainable and green product development. Researchers and industrialists are highly focused on R&D of organic waste-derived materials from macro-, micro- to nano-sizes, which aims to emerge advanced applications of heterogeneous catalysis, green construction materials, smart materials for electronics and sensor, bioactive compounds in biomedicine; biofilter/biosorbent for water treatment and environment; fuels and energy, natural reinforcing materials/biocomposites, etc. Although MSW-derived nanomaterials meet the green line of sustainable concern, however, varying proportions and compositions of waste have become extremely challenging for effective management. Hence, the aim of the Special Issue “From municipal solid waste to renewable materials for sustainable application” is to provide an overview of recent challenges and development of MSW-derived sustainable materials.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
i. The recycling of natural waste shells-derived materials (biogenic minerals), such as calcium carbonate or hydroxyapatite"
ii. Biomass-derived cellulose/micro-/nanocellulose fibers and lignin nanoparticles
iii. Biogenic carbon from organic wastes/municipal wastes
iv. Porous-based materials derived from organic wastes/municipal wastes
Keywords
Bio-based materials, bio-based nanomaterials, organic wastes, top-down approaches, environmental friendly application, valorization, waste bioeconomy, circular economy
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