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Item Novel adsorption-based upgradation of end-of-life polypropylene pyrolysis oil using carbonised rice husk(Elsevier Ltd, 2025) Kailas, T.G.; A R, A.; Dutta, S.; Madav, V.Plastic waste management is a global issue, with end-of-life polypropylene (EoL PP) having significant contribution. Polypropylene degradation forms undesirable compounds in pyrolysis oil, reducing its quality and limiting its fuel usability. Pyrolysis offers a promising solution for converting plastic waste into valuable fuels; however, the presence of degraded materials necessitates an effective upgrading process to enhance the fuel quality. This study introduces an innovative ex-situ adsorption-based upgradation technique using carbonised rice husk (CRH), an abundantly available, sustainable and cost-effective biomass residue, to significantly improve the quality of pyrolysis oil derived from EoL PP. The upgradation process reduced sulphur content in polypropylene pyrolysis oil from 0.19 % to 0.02 %. The cetane index, a key fuel quality metric, rose from 43.83 to 55.25, enhancing combustion properties. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance showed an increase in paraffin content from 53.15 vol% to 60.81 vol%, improving energy content and combustion efficiency. Olefins and aromatics decreased, improving fuel stability and reducing emissions. GCxGC TOF-MS analysis revealed a decrease in oxygenates and an increase in diesel-range hydrocarbons, improving fuel quality and stability. This comprehensive study highlights the dual benefits of CRH in enhancing fuel quality and supporting circular economy practices, making a significant contribution to the development of sustainable fuel alternatives in the waste-to-energy conversion sector. © 2024Item Comprehensive utilization of crustacean wastes by chemical-catalytic transformations using levulinic acid as a sustainable platform chemical(Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2025) C, P.N.; Nowl, M.S.; Mandal, S.; Dutta, S.Shell residues from seafood processing and aquaculture industries encounter significant challenges in waste management. There are many traditional and emerging applications of shell waste, but their enormous scale of production outpaces the utilization. This work reports the comprehensive utilization of shell waste by sequentially converting their major components into value-added products by selective chemical transformations. The pigments were extracted using ?-valerolactone (GVL), a biorenewable solvent produced from carbohydrate-derived levulinic acid (LA). The protein component was separated from shells under hydrothermal conditions with or without using any inorganic base. The calcite component was then reacted with LA and formic acid to form calcium levulinate and calcium formate, promising dietary supplements and chemical feedstock. Finally, chitin was converted into LA (30 mol%) under optimized conditions (150 °C, 4 h). Separation and value-addition of the components of crustacean exoskeletons demonstrated in this work are scalable, the products are marketable, and the catalyst used is recyclable. LA produced from chitin is used as the reagent and for synthesizing GVL for a closed-loop biorefinery. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025.