RSC Sustainability Blog

We are delighted to welcome Dr Mike Sutton, Lubrizol, UK as an Editorial Board Member for RSC Sustainability, a new open access journal publishing solutions-focused research to solve sustainability challenges.

Learn more about our new Editorial Board Member

Mike Sutton is a Corporate Technical Fellow at Lubrizol. Mike has a broad range of projects for which he is accountable looking to bring environmental sustainability and lifecycle thinking into Lubrizol products and manufacturing in the short, medium and long term across the corporation and on a global basis.

Mike joined Lubrizol in 2002, historically working in chemical additives for engine oils, both in passenger and commercial vehicle areas. Prior to Lubrizol Mike worked for Ford Motor Company in their diesel engineering department and prior to that on completion of his PhD worked for the UK government in lubricants for the armed forces.

Mike is an Honorary Professor at the University of Nottingham and serves on the advisory board for the School of Chemistry at the University. He has previously served on various committees including the EPSRC Science Engineering and Technology Board.

Read out most recently published papers here. Find out more about RSC Sustainability on the journal webpage and submit your manuscript now.

Please join us in welcoming Dr Mike Sutton to RSC Sustainability.

The International Organization for Chemical Sciences in Development (IOCD) and the Royal Society of Chemistry are excited to collaborate in launching an annual essay competition, focusing on the role of the chemical sciences in sustainability. The theme for 2023 is “How can the chemical sciences lead the stewardship of the Earth’s element resources?”.

The competition is open globally to entrants under 35, providing a unique opportunity for young scientists and researchers to showcase their ideas and contribute to the important conversation on sustainability. The winning entries will be published in RSC Sustainability, providing a platform for the authors to share their work with a global audience and make a real-world impact.

Sustainability is a pressing issue that affects us all, and the chemical sciences have a vital role to play in addressing it. The chemical industry has the potential to drive innovation and develop new technologies that can help us make the transition to a more sustainable future. However, it is essential that these developments are guided by a responsible and ethical approach that takes into account the long-term impact on the planet and its resources.

The theme of this year’s competition, “How can the chemical sciences lead the stewardship of the Earth’s element resources?”, is particularly relevant in light of the growing demand for resources such as metals and minerals. The competition encourages young scientists to think about the challenges and opportunities that this presents and to explore ways in which the chemical sciences can help to ensure that these resources are used in a responsible and sustainable way.

We encourage all young scientists and researchers who are passionate about sustainability to submit an entry to the competition. The deadline for submissions is 31^st March 2023. Further information on entering the competition can be found here.

We are delighted to welcome Professor David Cole-Hamilton, University of St Andrews, UK as an Editorial Board Member for RSC Sustainability, a new open access journal publishing solution-focused research to solve sustainability challenges.

Learn more about our new Editorial Board Member

Following degrees (BSc and PhD) at Edinburgh University, David Cole-Hamilton worked with Nobel Laureate, Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson at Imperial College, where he developed a strong interest in organometallic chemistry and especially homogeneous catalysis. His independent career started at Liverpool University (Lecturer and Senior Lecturer) before moving to be Professor of Chemistry at the University of St. Andrews in 1985. He became Emeritus in 2014.

The majority of his work has been on the applications of organometallic chemistry to solving problems in homogeneous catalysis and materials chemistry including nanomaterials. His most recent work has been concerned with making commodity and fine chemicals including plastics and pharmaceuticals from bio-derived waste oils that are by-products of other processes such as food production or paper manufacturing. In this way desirable effect chemicals can be made from biomass without using land that would otherwise be used for food production.

David has published more than 400 articles and patents with an h-index of 50.  Particularly relevant to the scope of RSC Sustainability is The Role of Chemists and Chemical Engineers in a Sustainable World, in which he shows how chemistry can be used to tackle all of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

He has won a number of prizes from the Royal Society of Chemistry as well as 5 prizes for teaching. In 2017 he was awarded the Alwin Mittasch Prize of the German Catalysis Society.

David is a past President of the European Chemical Society (EuChemS) having been President from 2013-7. This gave him extensive contact with chemical societies and policy makers throughout Europe. On behalf of EuChemS he led a team celebrating the International Year of the Periodic Table, which developed a new version of the Periodic Table highlighting element availability and vulnerability as well as which elements can come from conflict resources and which appear in smart phones.

Read some of his recent contributions below:

Synthesis of pharmaceutical drugs from cardanol derived from cashew nut shell liquid

Yiping Shi, Paul C.J. Kramer and David J. Cole-Hamilton

Green Chemistry, 2019, 21, 1043-1053

Insight into the mechanism of decarbonylation of methanol by ruthenium complexes; a deuterium labelling study

Patrizia Lorusso, Graham R. Eastham and David J. Cole-Hamilton

Dalton Transactions, 2018, 47, 9411-9417

Read out first articles here. Find out more about RSC Sustainability on the journal webpage and submit your manuscript now.

Please join us in welcoming Professor David Cole-Hamilton to RSC Sustainability.

We are delighted to announce our new annual essay competition

The International Organization for Chemical Sciences in Development (IOCD), in collaboration with the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), is launching an annual essay competition on the role of the chemical sciences in sustainability. The competition is open globally to entrants under 35 years of age, and the theme for the 2023 competition is:

How can the chemical sciences lead the stewardship of the Earth’s element resources?

Essays will be grouped into seven regions for shortlisting and selection of winners, with each regional winner receiving a prize of $500 (USD). The winning entries will also be published in RSC Sustainability. Shortlisted essays will be collected in an annual compendium, Young Voices in the Chemical Sciences for Sustainability, that will be published online and will be available on IOCD’s website.

Find out more about submitting your essay, the collection theme, and the prizes on offer by reading RSC Sustainability’s editorial about the competition:

‘Global essay competition: Young Voices in the Chemical Sciences for Sustainability’

RSC Sustain., 2023,1, 10-10, DOI: D2SU90002E

Read the first-ever issue of our gold open access journal

Our first issue is packed with full papers, communications, tutorial reviews and perspectives within the realm of sustainability and a better future. Plus, you can discover an editorial from our editor-in-chief, Tom Welton. Explore the full issue here.

Some of the articles included…

Introducing RSC Sustainability

Tom Welton

RSC Sustain. 2023, 1, 8-9, DOI: 10.1039/D2SU90001G

Global essay competition: Young Voices in the Chemical Sciences for Sustainability

RSC Sustain. 2023, 1, 10, DOI: 10.1039/D2SU90002E

From rocks to bioactive compounds: a journal through the global P(V) organophosphorus industry and its sustainability

Sosthène P M Ung, Chao-Jun Li

RSC Sustain. 2023, 1, 11-37, DOI: 10.1039/D2SU00015F

Sustainability applications of rare earth elements from metallurgy, magnetism, catalysis, luminescence to future electrochemical pseudocapacitance energy storage

Shan-Shan Chai, Wei-Bin Zhang, Jin-Lei Yang, Lun Zhang, Myat Myintzu Theint, Xian-Li Zhang, Shao-Bo Guo, Xia Zhou, Xue-Jing Ma

RSC Sustain. 2023, 1, 38-71, DOI: 10.1039/D2SU00054G

Surfactant-free synthesis of metal and metal oxide nanoparticles: a perspective

Siavash Iravani

RSC Sustain. 2023, 1, 72-82, DOI: 10.1039/D2SU00088A

Recycling post-consumer PLA into acrylic acid or lactide using phosphonium ionic liquids

Kwinten Janssens, Wouter Stuyck, Kirsten Stiers, Jens Wéry, Mario Smit, Dirk E de Vos

RSC Sustain. 2023, 1, 83-89, DOI: 10.1039/D2SU00078D

Phosphate-induced enhancement of fumarate production from a CO₂ and pyruvate with the system of malate dehydrogenase and fumarase

Mika Takeuchi, Yutaka Amao

RSC Sustain. 2023, 1, 90-96, DOI: 10.1039/D2SU00031H

Birch fractionation in γ-valerolactone with the emphasis on pulp properties: prehydrolysis, acid-catalyzed, and alkaline-catalyzed concept

Marianna Granatier, Huy Quang Lê, Eva Carmona González, Herbert Sixta

RSC Sustain. 2023, 1, 97-106, DOI: 10.1039/D2SU00046F

Tailoring lixiviant properties to optimise selectivity in E-waste recycling

Jennifer M Hartley, Sean Scott, Rodolfo Marin Rivera, Phil Hunt, Anthony J Lucio, Philip Bird, Robert Harris, Gawen R T Jenkin, Andrew P Abbott

RSC Sustain. 2023, 1, 107-116, DOI: 10.1039/D2SU00038E

Biologically bound nickel accelerated depolymerization of polyethylene to high value hydrocarbons and hydrogen

Parul Johar, Elizabeth L Rylott, C Robert McElroy, Avtar S Matharu, James H Clark

RSC Sustain. 2023, 1, 117-127, DOI: 10.1039/D2SU00001F

Novel polymeric cobalt tetrabenzimidazole phthalocyanine for nanomolar detection of hydrogen peroxide

Keshavananda Prabhu C P, Kenkera Rayappa Naveen, Shambhulinga Aralekallu, Shivalingayya, Lokesh Koodlur Sannegowda

RSC Sustain. 2023, 1, 128-138, DOI: 10.1039/D2SU00035K

Tailoring the antibacterial and antioxidant properties activities of iron nanoparticles with amino benzoic acid

Shah Faisal, Saima Sadiq, Muhammad Mustafa, Muhammad Hayat Khan, Muhammad Sadiq, Zaffer Iqbal, Maham Khan

RSC Sustain. 2023, 1, 139-146, DOI: 10.1039/D2SU00044J

Triazaphosphaadamantane-functionalized terpyridine metal complexes: cyclohexane oxidation in homogeneous and carbon-supported catalysis

Ivy L Librando, Anup Paul, Abdallah G Mahmoud, Atash V Gurbanov, Sónia A C Carabineiro, M Fátima C Guedes da Silva, Carlos F G C Geraldes, Armando J L Pombeiro

RSC Sustain. 2023, 1, 147-158, DOI: 10.1039/D2SU00017B

Color stability of blue aluminates obtained from recycling and applied as pigments

Dienifer F L Horsth, Julia de O Primo, Nayara Balaba, Fauze J Anaissi, Carla Bittencourt

RSC Sustain. 2023, 1, 159-166, DOI: 10.1039/D2SU00057A

RSC Sustainability is one of the latest additions to our gold open access journal portfolio. Every article in this issue, and future ones, is free to read and access by anyone. Publish your next paper in RSC Sustainability to be included in one of our issues. We are covering all article processing charges until mid-2025, so until then, you can publish with us for free.

All of our publications contribute to important conversations on sustainability, our planet and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. We hope you feel inspired reading these.

Submit your manuscript to RSC Sustainability here!