Open Access

REVIEW

Spotlight on Sustainable Biobased Carbon Catalysts: Recent Progress and Cross-Cutting Opportunities in Catalysis, Photochemistry and Electrochemistry

Kelly Leite dos Santos Castro Assis¹, Druval Santos de Sá¹, Bruno da Silva Marques¹, Carolina Carvalho de Mello¹, João Lucas Marques Barros², Henrique Carvalhais Milanezi², João Batista Oliveira dos Santos², Carlos Alberto Franchini¹, Bráulio Soares Archanjo¹, Carlos Alberto Achete¹, Adriana Maria da Silva^1,*

1 Divisão de Materiais, Instituto Nacional de Metrologia, Qualidade e Tecnologia (INMETRO), Duque de Caxias, RJ, Brazil
2 Departamento de Engenharia Química, Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR), São Carlos, SP, Brazil

* Corresponding Author: Adriana Maria da Silva. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Renewable Nanostructured Porous Materials: Synthesis, Processing, and Applications)

Journal of Renewable Materials 2026, 14(7), 2 https://doi.org/10.32604/jrm.2026.02025-0233

Received 31 December 2025; Accepted 30 April 2026; Issue published 28 July 2026

Abstract

The transition toward a circular economy and zero-waste strategies has driven increasing interest in biomass-derived carbon materials as sustainable alternatives to conventional catalyst supports. Agricultural and industrial residues can be converted into porous carbons with high surface area, tunable porosity, and rich surface chemistry, enabling waste valorization and stabilization of metal species ranging from nanoparticles to single atoms. These properties support their application across heterogeneous catalysis, photocatalysis, and electrochemical systems, revealing cross-cutting opportunities among these fields. Despite these advantages, challenges remain, including feedstock heterogeneity, energy-intensive processing, scalability limitations, and the lack of standardized methodologies. This review highlights recent advances in the development of sustainable carbon catalysts, focusing on shared limitations and the relationships between structure, properties, and applications. In addition, it discusses key factors influencing material performance and long-term viability. Emphasis is placed on future perspectives that align with circular economy principles and low-waste strategies, aiming to guide the design of more efficient, scalable, and environmentally responsible catalytic systems.

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