The proliferation of polymer science and technology in recent decades has been remarkable, with synthetic polymers derived predominantly from petroleum-based sources dominating the market. However, concerns about their environmental impacts and the finite nature of fossil resources have sparked interest in sustainable alternatives. Bio-based polymers, derived from renewable sources such as plants and microbes, offer promise in addressing these challenges. This review provides an overview of bio-based polymers, discussing their production methods, properties, and potential applications. Specifically, it explores prominent examples including polylactic acid (PLA), polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), and polyhydroxy polyamides (PHPAs). Despite their current limited market share, the growing awareness of environmental issues and advancements in technology are driving increased demand for bio-based polymers, positioning them as essential components in the transition towards a more sustainable future.

Polylactic acid (PLA) is one of the most important biopolymers employed on the market due to its good mechanical strength and barrier properties. On the other hand, this material presents a rather low flexibility, limiting its employment. The valorization of bio-based agro-food waste for the modification of bioplastics is a highly appealing approach for the replacement of petrol-based materials. The aim of this work is to employ cutin fatty acids derived from a biopolymer (i.e., cutin), present in waste tomato peels and its bio-based derivatives as new plasticizers to enhance PLA flexibility. In particular, pure 10,16-dihydroxy hexadecanoic acid was extracted and isolated from tomato peels and then functionalized to give the desired compounds. All the molecules developed in this study were characterized by NMR and ESI-MS. Blends at different concentrations (10, 20, 30, and 40% w/w) the flexibility (T_g measurements with differential scanning calorimetry—DSC) of the final material. Furthermore, the physical behavior of two blends obtained by mechanical mixing of PLA and 16-methoxy,16-oxohexadecane-1,7-diyl diacetate was investigated through thermal and tensile tests. The data collected by DSC show a lowering in the T_g of all the blends of PLA with functionalized fatty acids, in comparison with pure PLA. Lastly, the tensile tests highlighted how PLA blended with 16-methoxy,16-oxohexadecane-1,7-diyl diacetate (20% w/w) can efficiently enhance its flexibility.

Hydrophobic Eutectic Solvents (HES) are emerging as a promising class of sustainable solvents for water treatment applications, yet their rational selection and performance evaluation remain limited. In this work, we adopted a systematic approach to rank a diverse set of HES, combining terpenes, fatty acids, and trioctylphosphine oxide (TOPO). The screening was based on seven key criteriaviscosity, density, water leaching, pH shift, water uptake, EcoScale score, and chemical stabilityaimed at identifying systems with low cross-contamination, high processability, and favorable environmental profiles. Selected HES were then evaluated in liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) using bisphenol A (BPA) as a model compound, with performance assessed via UV-Vis and NMR spectroscopy. The optimized HES, TOPO:menthol, demonstrated an excellent extraction efficiency and very low leaching. Reusability was explored as well as regeneration through back-extraction. Sustainability assessments using the Analytical EcoScale and AGREEprep tools reinforced the viability of the proposed systems. Beyond pollutant removal, this work offers a framework for the molecular-level design and evaluation of HES, advancing their integration into green separation technologies.

The development of greener extraction systems is essential to improving the sustainability of biomass valorization processes. Here we report that 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and levulinic acid (LEV)two bioderived platform molecules often coproduced in biomass processingspontaneously form a stable liquid phase over a broad compositional range. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermodynamic modeling reveal a eutectic composition near x _HMF = 0.39 with a melting temperature of 258 K and significant negative deviation from ideal behavior. The mixture remains liquid across a wide compositional range even in the presence of low water content (0.3–1.0 wt %), exhibiting deep eutectic solvent (DES)-like behavior. Structural and dynamic analyses using DSC, NMR spectroscopy, molecular dynamics (MD) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations uncover a nonideal mixing regime driven by the network of HMF-LEV hydrogen bonding. Notably, water does not disrupt the HMF-LEV network but enhances its structuration at the eutectic composition by moderating LEV-LEV interactions and enabling more favorable HMF-LEV hydrogen bonding. This work shows that the liquid HMF-LEV phase can be generated in situ within a heterogeneous biomass surrogate, enabling substantially higher HMF extraction efficiencies than conventional solvents and eliminating the need for additional organic extractants. This provides a proof of concept for a solvent-minimized route to HMF recovery, indicating the HMF-LEV system as a promising, bioderived liquid platform with potential for integration into future resource-efficient biorefinery schemes.

This study presents an integrated two-step synthetic protocol for the conversion of coconut and palm oils into high-value bio-based hydrocarbons, alcohols, and aldehydes. The process employs alkaline hydrolysis followed by Kolbe electrolysis. Under reflux in an EtOH-KOH system, both oils were quantitatively converted into their constituent fatty acid mixtures (C16–C18:1 for palm oil and C8–C18:1 for coconut oil) with yields up to 88% and 92%, respectively. The resulting intermediates were characterized via GC–MS. Subsequently, galvanostatic Kolbe electrolysis (100 mA) was performed using custom platinum electrodes in binary and ternary solvent systems. High substrate conversions (>86%) were obtained, and the organic product distribution reached up to 73% and 74% relative hydrocarbon selectivity for palm and coconut oil derivatives, respectively, in a ternary MeOH/EtOH/H₂O system. However, operating under excess charge yielded isolated hydrocarbon mass yields of 8–20% (with up to 18% Kolbe dimers) alongside medium- and long-chain alcohols and aldehydes. This integrated protocol demonstrates a scalable and tunable route for converting vegetable oils into high-purity bio-based chemicals.