SUSTAINABLE CHEMICAL STRATEGIES IN ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY: EMERGING GREEN TECHNOLOGIES AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES

Abstract

Sustainable chemical strategies in environmental chemistry emphasize emerging green technologies and future perspectives for pollution prevention, remediation, and circular resource use. Environmental challenges such as persistent pollutants, solvent waste, greenhouse gas emissions, contaminated water, degraded soils, and unsafe industrial residues require approaches that reduce hazards at the source rather than relying only on end-of-pipe treatment. The review synthesizes literature from 2012 to 2025 on green synthesis, process intensification, sustainable solvents, catalysis, water and wastewater treatment, air pollution control, carbon management, soil and sediment remediation, biomass valorization, circular chemical systems, sustainable materials, and green analytical chemistry. Key technologies discussed include continuous-flow processing, ionic liquids, deep eutectic solvents, supercritical carbon dioxide, photocatalysis, electrocatalysis, biochar, nanomaterials, biopolymer composites, membranes, and low-waste monitoring platforms. These strategies collectively improve resource efficiency, lower toxicity, reduce energy consumption, promote waste-to-value conversion, and support safer environmental monitoring. However, implementation remains constrained by scale-up limitations, cost, catalyst recovery, material durability, nanoparticle fate, regeneration efficiency, toxicity uncertainty, and incomplete life-cycle evaluation. Future progress depends on integrating safe-and-sustainable-by-design principles, digital tools, renewable energy, circular economy models, regulatory support, and interdisciplinary collaboration.