Production of Sustainable Materials from Lemon Bio-waste Using Circular Economy

The scientific community seeks to develop processes that allow the selection of chemical substances before they are released into the environment. Therefore, this research contributes to the field of sustainable materials by exploring new properties that can prevent them from becoming problems linked to man and his habitat. Thus, in this work, citrus fruits are used that are not suitable for human consumption, nor for sale in the fruit market or for secondary employment industries such as, for example, feeding livestock. In particular, research will be done on lemon, which is consumed for its flavor and low cost, but its acidity makes it less appetizing. The extraction of the juice generates by-products, which are mostly discarded in landfills. Additionally, it produces gases and liquids that generate a greenhouse effect in the different regions where it is grown. In this work, the research is carried out with the different parts of the lemon: juice, peel and ethanolic extract. The solids obtained were characterized with different techniques and compared with pure silica, synthesized by the sol-gel method, to contrast the morphology of acid hydrolysis with lemon. In general terms, the proposed objectives have been achieved, since the materials were synthesized through a simple and rapid method that allowed their inclusion in oxidic matrices. The principles of the Circular Economy were applied, which has been gaining ground today in the industrial and commercial field, understood as a Fourth Revolution.