Biomass- and Waste-Derived Carbon Materials: Science and Technology for Energy and Environmental Applications

Carbon materials are central to many energy and environmental technologies, from clean water and air treatment to carbon management and affordable energy storage. Advancing the science and technology behind these materials - through controlled carbonisation, activation, heteroatom doping, and surface chemistry - is essential to meeting global energy and environmental challenges.This Research Topic focuses on functional carbons derived from biomass and waste precursors, connecting synthesis and functionalisation chemistry with real-world performance in energy storage and environmental remediation. Agricultural and industrial waste streams offer low-cost, renewable precursors for these materials, and research grounded in locally available feedstocks is of particular importance to countries with high waste generation and pressing energy and environmental needs - notably across Latin America, Africa, and South and Southeast Asia. This Research Topic welcomes contributions from researchers worldwide, including work from and in collaboration with institutions in these regions.The areas of interest to this Research Topic include how precursor origin and processing conditions shape carbon structure, porosity, and surface chemistry, and how these properties translate into function, as well as work addressing scalability, reproducibility, and the practical steps toward application. By gathering studies across regions and disciplines, this collection aims to demonstrate how sustainable, locally grounded carbon materials research can contribute to clean water, air quality, carbon management, and affordable energy storage.We welcome submissions addressing, but not limited to:- Biomass- and waste-derived porous carbons: synthesis, activation, and structural control- Nitrogen- and heteroatom-doped carbons- Surface functionalisation strategies and surface chemistry- Adsorption and removal of organic and inorganic pollutants- Carbon dioxide capture and conversion- Energy storage applications, including supercapacitors and electrodes- Valorisation of regional agricultural or industrial residues- Scalability, sustainability, and life-cycle considerationsWe particularly encourage contributions from researchers based in or collaborating with institutions in Latin America, Africa, and South and Southeast Asia, and studies that use locally available feedstocks. Topic editors: Lucas Spessato, Odair Ferreira, Oluwashina Philips Gbenebor Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/85433/biomass--and-waste-derived-carbon-materials-science-and-technology-for-energy-and-environmental-applications