Three groups of unexpected experimental findings were published in the past twenty years in different research areas, opposing current paradigms, and supporting the following statements: (i) water is becoming the ideal medium for chemical synthesis; (ii) water is an electrifying agent of most materials; (iii) macroscopic matter is formed by charge mosaics that are often the outcomes of surface processes at the aqueous interfaces. These statements provoke major changes in chemical thinking that have a common feature: the behavior of chemicals in aqueous electrified interfaces may largely differ from their behavior in bulk and theoretical predictions. This review discusses eight widely accepted statements familiar to chemists, students, professors, and teachers, but challenged by many experimental findings obtained in systems having aqueous interfaces. A broader statement that is being used in this context is that the thermodynamic properties of ionic species change depending on the local electric potential, modifying their reactivity, mass transfer, and other properties. Beyond synthetic applications, atmospheric moisture is becoming a promising source of electricity. These new views create huge opportunities for chemical research and development, based on the most abundant and environmentally compatible chemical. Aqueous interfaces are thus a powerful toolbox for building a sustainable economy. areas paradigms i (i synthesis ii (ii materials iii (iii feature predictions chemists students professors teachers potential reactivity transfer applications electricity development economy

Human population growth and development has been largely dependent on non-renewable natural resources, which cannot be indefinitely sustained. Beyond, coal and other abundant resources cannot continue to be used at current rates due to their impact on the environment and climate. It is thus important to replace as much as possible the fossil fuels and scarce minerals as sources of energy and industrial raw materials. Biomass plays a key role in this scenario, since its availability depends on abundant but often misused resources: air, water, sunlight and land. The “oil shocks”, the recognition of impending resource shortages, the global pollution and climate change led many governments and organizations to create roadmaps to Bioeconomy. This includes the growing use of plants and animals to produce energy and raw materials, but it cannot create food scarcity. Agriculture depends on the plant macronutrients N, P and K, and this article discusses their role in plant and animal growth, production and consumption, dependence on non-renewable minerals and energy and perspectives for increasing their efficiency. Special attention is given to Brazilian agriculture that is heavily dependent on imported NPK, requiring strategic action and research.

Abstract: Sustainable production requires increasing use of raw materials from renewable sources, processed under mild conditions with minimal effluent production. These requirements are satisfied by using materials derived from biomass, in synergy with food and energy production. The possibilities of biomass are continuously enlarged by new findings, as in the intrinsic nanocomposite properties of natural rubber and the amphiphile behavior of cellulose that translated into new functional materials, including high-performance, flexible and conductive non-metallic materials. Other findings are allowing a better understanding of electrostatic phenomena that play a positive role in electrostatic adhesion and cohesion of nanocomposites made from biomass products. Moreover, this should allow the development of safe electrostatic separation techniques, suitable for the fractionation of crude mixtures of biomass residues. A current study on rubber electrostatics is showing its capabilities as a transducer of mechanical energy while providing clues to understand the performance of the dielectric elastomers used in robotic self-sensing actuators.