The increasing environmental impact of electronic waste has intensified the pursuit of sustainable materials for manufacturing green electronics. This study presents the development of lignin-based hybrids with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) via an environmentally friendly ultrasonication process in aqueous medium. Two hybrid materials containing 10 and 20 wt% MWCNTs were synthesized and thoroughly characterized. DLS analysis revealed better dispersion and colloidal stability due to strong physicochemical interactions between lignin and MWCNTs, while SEM and TEM images confirmed a continuous lignin matrix embedding an interconnected MWCNT network. Raman spectroscopy indicated structural ordering within the hybrids. The electrical conductivity of the hybrids reached 2–5 S/cm as evaluated by four-point probe measurements, despite the high lignin content (80–90 wt%). Electrochemical analysis suggested significantly enhanced redox activity and electron transfer kinetics, with measured electroactive surface areas increasing up to 21-fold larger compared with the unmodified electrode. The synergy between lignin and MWCNTs enabled the formation of a conductive network, highlighting these hybrids as promising, cost-effective, and sustainable materials for conductive and electrochemical applications in next-generation green electronics.

Plating on Plastics (PoP) requires specific surface pre-treatment steps to enable metallization. The conventional PoP industry utilizes hexavalent chromium (toxic, carcinogenic) and palladium (critical raw material) for surface etching and activation, respectively, raising significant health, environmental, and economic concerns. This work is based on a new Cr⁶⁺-free and Pd-free PoP technology that uses piranha (H₂O₂-H₂SO₄) solutions for surface etching, nickel salts for activation, and NaBH₄ for reduction, ultimately forming metallic nucleation sites for downstream electroless plating and electroplating. A comprehensive modeling approach was developed to simulate and predict unit operation performance (reaction kinetics and yields) and material properties (contact angle and adhesion) across processing stages of the new technology. State-of-the-art and data-driven modeling revealed the combinatorial relationships among process performance, the achieved properties and the different settings of process operating conditions. The results also highlighted capabilities for tuning all processes over a range of conditions, reaching desired product specifications (adhesion and thickness). The models were constructed as a Decision Support Tool (DST) serving economic, environmental, safety and Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) objectives. The DST can be used through a user-friendly interface that enables the insertion of user-defined inputs and monitoring of optimization results.