Alkaline pulping removes lignin while retaining the cellulose and hemicelluloses that determine pulp yield and quality. Anthraquinone (AQ) became an essential benchmark cooking additive because its quinone-hydroquinone redox cycle accelerates delignification while suppressing carbohydrate peeling. However, carcinogenicity concerns, regulatory pressure, and uncertainty regarding potentially hazardous impurities have restricted its continued use, particularly in safety-sensitive products. These concerns have renewed interest in redox-active alternatives, such as 2-methylanthraquinone (2-MAQ), 2-ethylanthraquinone (2-EAQ), and naturally occurring quinones. Teak (Tectona grandis) wood is a notable source of such compounds, containing 2-MAQ, deoxylapachol, lapachol, and related quinones. Studies indicate that teak extracts and purified teak quinones can enhance delignification or carbohydrate retention and, in some systems, lower the active alkali charge required to reach a target kappa number. Their natural origin, however, is not considered sufficient evidence that they are inherently “green.” This targeted narrative mini-review evaluates studies published between 1972 and 2026, using AQ as the historical and mechanistic reference for assessing these emerging additives. Current findings identify teak-derived quinones as promising candidates rather than direct replacements for AQ because their effectiveness varies with feedstock, cooking chemistry, additive dose, extraction method, composition, and purity. Further research should standardize extract composition, clarify the roles of individual quinones, and establish residual and migration behavior, toxicological safety, effects on pulp strength, and compatibility with mill chemical-recovery systems.

Most of the current textiles are made from non-renewable, non-biodegradable synthetic fibers that are a source of microplastic pollution. The alternative biodegradable natural fibers have not only limited production but also have high energy and water usage along with high carbon footprints. Chitin has immense possibilities to replace non-biodegradable synthetic polymers for textile fiber manufacturing because of its abundance, biodegradability, and many beneficial functional properties. Despite its abundance, its utilization in textile fiber manufacturing is limited because of its insolubility and performance issues. Spinning of fibers from chitin derivatives for textile production was mainly studied by wet and dry-jet wet spinning methods using a range of solvents including ionic liquids, spinning dope additives (other polymers, nanoparticles), and various coagulation baths that considerably enhanced fiber performance and functionalities. Recent advancements enabled manufacturing fibers by gel spinning directly from chitin without any derivatization, which produced fibers with strength comparable to several natural fibers. This review discusses chitin and its derivatives as fiber-forming polymers, spinning methods, various solvents used, spinning methods, fiber crosslinking, and spinning dope additives to enhance the mechanical and functional properties of the resultant fibers. The discussion also includes the toxicity and biodegradation of chitin fiber, carbon footprints, and future directions in advancing its application toward sustainable fiber production. The key limitation of the review article is the consideration of only published peer-reviewed journal articles but no patent specifications. A limited number of published articles discussed the structure-property relationship of fibers produced from chitin and its derivatives. The true comparison of various performances of fibers produced by various methods was difficult due to different conditions used by different research groups. It is possible to manufacture textile fibers with strength comparable to many natural fibers by selecting the right source of chitin and its derivatives.

Radiative cooling materials offer passive heat management but often suffer from high cost, complex processing, and poor outdoor durability. Here, a scalable strategy was developed to fabricate thermochromic radiative cooling wood by integrating thermochromic microcapsules (TCMs) and ZnO nanoparticles into a phenolic resin coating on rubberwood (Hevea brasiliensis) and fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata (Lamb.) Hook.). The in situ synthesized ZnO-modified resin formed uniform micro/nano-structured coatings with strong adhesion and reversible thermochromic behavior, increasing the ultraviolet (UV)-visible reflectance by approximately 44.7% when the wood temperature (T) exceeded the critical transition temperature (T_c = 28 ℃). The hybrid coating enhanced hydrophobicity, self-cleaning, and UV resistance, ensuring long term optical stability. Outdoor tests demonstrated effective thermal regulation performance, with maximum surface and subsurface temperature reductions of 10.4 and 7.2 ℃, respectively, while wooden house models achieved surface and indoor temperature decreases of 3.3 and 2.5 ℃, respectively. EnergyPlus simulations further indicated annual cooling energy saving rates up to 19.5% in hot climates. This study presents a multifunctional thermochromic radiative cooling wood with integrated dynamic optical regulation, offering a sustainable and scalable route toward energy-efficient and climate-adaptive building materials.

Tumor cells often develop reductive adaptations that decrease the effectiveness of reactive oxygen species (ROS)-dependent treatments, prompting a need for catalytic platforms that sustainably amplify redox stress. In this work, we constructed a bio-based protocatechuic acid (PCA)-anchored multimetallic Fe-based metal-organic framework (Fe-MOF) nanoreactor with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) capability and redox-activated therapeutic potential. Combining the PCA-coordinated Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺ framework with Cu⁺/Cu²⁺ redox cycling and ultrasmall Au domains, this redox network formed a tightly interconnected Fe/Cu/Au catalytic system that supported Fenton-type conversion of H₂O₂ into ·OH, glutathione (GSH) depletion, and enhanced oxidative stress in tumor environments. The addition of the natural compound brazilin (BRA) promoted apoptosis and enhanced the sensitivity of tumor cells to ferroptosis. Surface coating with homotypic 4T1 cell membranes enabled tumor homing and facilitated BRA release within tumors. Mechanistically, the nanoreactor perturbed cellular redox regulation across multiple metabolic pathways, including reduced expression of cytochrome c oxidase subunit 4 isoform 1 (COX4I1), serine hydroxymethyltransferase 2 (SHMT2), and dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH), suppression of the glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4)-solute carrier family 7 member 11 (SLC7A11) antioxidant response, and acyl-CoA synthetase long-chain family member 4 (ACSL4)-mediated lipid remodeling. In general, PCA-ligated Fe-MOF sequentially modified with Au, Cu, BRA, and 4T1 cell membranes (FP@ACBM) enhanced ROS accumulation, promoted lipid peroxidation, and induced apoptosis, thus producing antitumor effects. At the same time, it enabled stable longitudinal relaxation time (T₁)-weighted MRI contrast enhancement. Overall, this bio-based phenolic ligand-assembled mixed-valence Fe-MOF platform provides a versatile strategy for constructing redox-cycling nanomaterials with promising biomedical applications.

The inherent structural complexity of lignocellulosic biomass, characterized by the intricate interplay between its major constituents, has posed fundamental challenges to predictive modeling of its deconstruction processes. This work proposes a novel component-coupled model based on representative volume element analysis (RVEA) to elucidate the kinetic mechanisms of lignin and hemicellulose degradation. The foundation of this modeling was a uniquely designed densification pretreatment using H₂SO₄ and H₂O₂ (DLC(sa-hp)), achieving a strategic shift by transforming lignin-derived inhibitor, which was traditionally viewed as detrimental, into quantifiable, real-time tracking kinetic indicator through controlled its release. The RVEA quantitatively revealed the coupled mechanisms between lignin and hemicellulose deconstruction through acidic and oxidative catalysis governing selective bond cleavage, explaining the correlation between fast-slow phase dynamic transition of hemicellulose with lignin degradation. This integrated methodology has enabled the development of a multicomponent kinetic model featuring semi-analytical solutions, providing unprecedented computational efficiency and revealing explicit relationships between process parameters and kinetic behavior. The resulting kinetic methodology establishes a new modeling paradigm for lignocellulose biorefinery, connecting molecular scale understanding with process design through multiscale modeling. This work provides both fundamental insights into lignocellulose deconstruction and an efficient modeling tool for advancing sustainable biorefinery.

Single-atom catalysts (SACs) have advantages such as high atom utilization and well-defined active sites, and have been extensively studied in the field of oxygen electrocatalysis. However, current strategies for tuning the M-N₄ configurations predominantly focus on local coordination environments, which still makes it difficult to simultaneously optimize the balance of adsorption energies of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) intermediates. Herein, a Zn volatilization-induced pyrolysis strategy is developed to construct Co-N₄ sites coupled with Co nanoparticles on curved N-doped biomass-derived carbon (Co_NPs+SA@NC). The intrinsic curvature and defect-rich structure induce lattice distortion and electronic polarization, significantly enhancing the metal-support interaction (MSI). This curvature-enhanced MSI triggers electronic reconstruction and symmetry breaking of Co-N₄ sites, narrowing the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO)-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) gap and facilitating electron transfer. Meanwhile, the influence of adjacent Co nanoparticles optimizes the electronic structure of Co-N₄, improving the adsorption-desorption capacity of intermediates in the OER process. Therefore, the half-wave potential required to achieve ORR was 0.87 V, and the overpotential required to reach a current density of 10 mA/cm² is only 290 mV. A zinc-air battery (ZAB) based on Co_NPs+SA@NC exhibited a high peak power density of 172 mW/cm². This work highlights curvature-mediated MSI as an effective strategy for controlling single-atom configurations and advancing biomass-derived electrocatalysts.

This study reports a dual-scale encapsulation strategy using nanocellulose (CNF) to create high-performance, leakage-proof composite phase change materials. Bio-derived palmitic acid (PA) and lauric acid (LA) serve as the phase change materials and CNF acts as a green emulsifier. Pickering emulsion technology is employed to encapsulate them into microcapsules. These microcapsules are further embedded into an CNF aerogel skeleton via directional freeze-drying, resulting in a composite phase change material (PA/CNF) with a dual microcapsule-aerogel coating structure. Even with a high PA loading of 88.9% (w), the composite exhibits excellent shape stability and leakage resistance. After heating at 80 ℃ for 120 min, its leakage rate is only 0.03%. Its latent heat reaches 183 J/g, along with good thermal cycling stability and reversibility. Moreover, the material demonstrates remarkable thermal buffering and regulation capabilities, indicating great potential for thermal management applications. This work provides a novel and scalable green approach for developing high-performance composite phase change materials.

Efficiently converting low-grade heat (<100 ℃) into electricity remains a significant challenge. Moreover, most widely studied thermogalvanic electrolytes rely on redox couples containing toxic metal elements, which poses serious obstacles to developing non-toxic and environmentally sustainable energy conversion technologies. Herein, we present a high-performance thermogalvanic system which employs biobased sulfonated lignin (LS), a major component in paper industry black liquor and ammonium persulfate (APS) as the redox couple. Driven by quinone/hydroquinone redox reactions under a thermal gradient, the liquid electrolyte can convert heat into electricity with a Seebeck coefficient of 2.92 mV/K. Furthermore, the quasi-solid LS-APS-KOH/Poly(vinyl alcohol) (LSAK/PVA) gel prepared from gelation of such electrolyte with PVA further enhances the Seebeck coefficient to 4.3 mV/K, leading to an output power density of 976 μW/(m²·K²). Notably, by exploiting the intrinsic photothermal property of lignin, we demonstrate an integrated photo-thermo-electric conversion system on a unified material platform centered on lignin, opening new avenues for direct solar energy harvesting. This study establishes a novel “waste-to-energy” paradigm by valorizing industrial black liquor for advanced energy applications.

The scalable development of sustainable, high-performance cellulose foams is often impeded by energy-intensive drying processes and the structural vulnerability of porous networks under ambient conditions. In this paper, we report an ambient-pressure drying strategy to fabricate polyaniline-bridged multifunctional bamboo fiber (BF)/multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) composite foam. By employing 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (TEMPO) oxidized cellulose nanofibril (TOCNF) to uniformly disperse MWCNTs within the BF network, a hierarchical porous architecture with mechanical robustness and high electrical conductivity was constructed through ice-templating, Zn²⁺ crosslinking, and hydrogen bonding, effectively resisting capillary-force-induced collapse without the need for freeze-drying or solvent exchange. The optimized Zn²⁺ crosslinked polyaniline-bridged multi-walled carbon nanotubes/bamboo fiber/TOCNF composite foam (Zn-P₃M₄BC₁) exhibited an exceptional electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness of 61.56 dB, with an absolute specific shielding efficiency (SSE/d) of 2375.2 dB·cm²/g, surpassing most reported carbon-based and polyaniline (PANI)-based aerogels. Furthermore, the synergistic interplay between MWCNTs/PANI and phytic acid endowed composite foam with excellent flame retardancy (limiting oxygen index = 56.8%), low thermal conductivity (0.085 W/(m·K)), and reliable electrothermal and infrared camouflage performance. Overall, this work provides a scalable and energy-efficient route to multifunctional cellulose-based foams for electromagnetic protection, thermal insulation and adaptive infrared camouflage.