Thermophilic microorganisms, capable of thriving under high temperatures, are emerging as key platforms for next-generation industrial biotechnology (NGIB), driving innovations in lignin biorefining, bioplastics synthesis, biodiesel production, and environmental remediation. Enzymes derived from thermophilic microorganisms, thermozymes, exhibit remarkable stability and efficiency under extreme conditions, making them highly suitable for diverse industrial applications. This review highlights recent advances in leveraging thermophilic microorganisms and thermozymes for high-temperature catalysis, focusing on their economic and environmental benefits. It also emphasizes progress in high-throughput screening and artificial intelligence (AI), which have revolutionized the bioprospecting, engineering, and application potential of thermozymes. Challenges and potential solutions for industrial implementation of high-temperature catalytic platforms are also discussed, highlighting their transformative impact on sustainable biotechnology.
Mitigating wave-induced motions in floating multi-body systems is a critical challenge in ocean engineering. For single floating structures, such as floating platforms or vessels, applying active control requires considerable energy. It is also a common solution to add auxiliary structures and a power take-off (PTO) device, thereby forming a multi-body system that utilises passive control. However, the effectiveness of this method is limited due to varying phase differences between control forces and motions, which change across different wave frequencies. The present work proposes a novel semi-active structural control method, which can effectively provide optimised control force to the main body within a multi-body system. The key point of this method is tuning the phases between the forces and motions of floating bodies. Proper tuning can neutralise the main floating body’s wave-induced motion by utilising the wave-induced motion of the auxiliary structure. The controller is developed under an optimal declutching control framework, adjusting the damping coefficients of the PTO system to provide discrete resistance to the target body. A floating semi-submersible (SS) platform equipped with a heave ring as an auxiliary structure is selected and analysed as the case study. The results demonstrate the method’s efficacy in reducing motion for floating wind turbine (FWT) platforms and its applicability to various types of multiple floating bodies. Interestingly, our optimal declutching control can “kill two birds with one stone”. It can simultaneously enhance motion reduction and increase power capture. In the current study, the proposed controller achieved a maximum motion reduction of 30% for the platform.
The study explored the use of 3D-printed plastics as catalyst supports for gas-phase photocatalytic applications. Specifically, it compared three commonly used plastic materials: PLA, ABS, and PETG. The process involved 3D modeling, additive manufacturing through 3D printing, and functionalization via dip-coating with titanium dioxide (TiO2). The study evaluated the loading capacity of the materials, the adhesion of the films, and the optical properties of the photocatalytic plates. Finally, the three plastic samples were tested as support materials in a laboratory-scale flat-plate reactor for the photocatalytic oxidation of dichloromethane in air. Loading capacities of around 3 mg/cm2 for TiO2 were achieved, along with radiation absorption capacities close to 65%. A correlation between loading and absorption fraction was identified, leading to the proposal of a simple saturation model; in turn, it allowed the predictive model of pollutant conversion as a function of the absorbed fraction of radiation. By analyzing both qualitative and quantitative properties and results, in order to determine the most suitable plastic material to be used in a photocatalytic wall reactor, PLA emerged as the best choice among the materials tested. These results show promise for the effective utilization of these plastics in the design of air decontamination devices.
Over the past decades, urbanization, industrialization and unsustainable management have impaired soil fertility and ecosystem functioning, thereby affecting ecological stability and economic development. The mechanistic coupling between pressures and effects lies in the loss of soil organic matter (SOM), which directly and indirectly controls the vast majority of soil properties and the functioning of the soil ecosystem. From the functions SOM exerts in the soil ecosystem, to the consequences of its depletion and the possibilities it offers for ecological restoration, this concise opinion offers a perspective on the multifaceted roles of SOM in sustaining ecosystem functioning and the services it generates. Indeed, SOM plays crucial roles in supporting soil long-term fertility and the provision of ecosystem services, such as food, water, genetic, medical and biochemical resources, religious, cultural and recreational values, as well as sequestration of carbon and regulation of climate. These roles foster the view of SOM as an ideal proxy for soil quality and health, and justify the interest in acting on SOM as a mean of enhancing the sustainability and effectiveness of ecological restoration projects. The improvement of SOM to favor the onset of proper ecological dynamics in heavily degraded ecosystems, such as urban, industrial and agricultural soils, can be also coupled to the recovery of useful organic matter from wastes, integrating ecosystem restoration within waste management and sustainable circular economy strategies. Since, ultimately, the sustainability of our civilization depends upon proper ecological dynamics, soil quality rises to a topic of public concern and this opinion aims at providing a reference point of view on the intertwined implications of its preservation on the ecological, economic and social spheres.