This thematic line can be envisaged as divided into two main subdomains: "Green Technologies" and "Environmental Technologies". This area is a crucial branch of our research center in what regards the prevention and protection of environmental harmfulness of our planet where industrial chemical processes play an important role.
Particularly, if considering the worldwide agenda (UN and EC at frontline) to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable and circular economy. Chemical engineers have the responsibility to look at the two sides of this environmental coin either to provide industry with novel technologies handling environmental friendly compounds and processes and simultaneously search for successful remediation of existing pollution. Eco-friendly chemical processes may then rely on process intensification, compounds recovery by adsorption, absorption, nanofiltration, extraction with supercritical fluids, ionic liquids or specific enzymes, whereas bioaugmentation and biotechnology may be targeted strategies for biogas and bioethanol green production. On the other hand, a broad spectrum of actual industrial activities produces pollutants and wastages leading to serious contamination problems.
Rules to limit gaseous emissions, wastewaters discharge or solid wastes disposal are restraining legal thresholds and, often, conventional systems fail to respond appropriately. Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs), Advanced Biological Processes (ABPs), Biofiltration, solar-driven systems, adsorptive and membranes processes, among others, are then called to degrade and/or remove chemical contaminants, pathogenic bacteria and viruses to ensuring water reuse, bioenergy production, value-added products recovery and environment safeguarding. In line with the transition to alow carbon society, research focusing on the use of sustainable technologies for CO2 sequestration and production of chemicals is also considered a crucial area. In this regard, many works follow up the development of green production technologies and environmental treatment technologies as an urgent scientific role.