Scilight Press

Aims: Sustainable Materials for Earth and Beyond (SMEB) is a premier, peer-reviewed, fully open-access journal dedicated to publishing high-impact research on the development, characterization, application, and environmental assessment of sustainable materials and construction technologies that support the development of resilient infrastructure on Earth and in extraterrestrial environments. The journal seeks to bridge fundamental materials science with practical engineering applications, while providing an immediate, freely accessible international platform for researchers, engineers, practitioners, and policymakers. By connecting sustainability challenges on Earth with frontier construction in space, the journal promotes research that shapes the built environment of tomorrow while addressing the urgent need for climate-resilient and resource-efficient solutions today. The journal is published quarterly online by Scilight Press.

Scope: The journal explicitly welcomes contributions spanning the full spectrum of natural sciences and engineering, including but not limited to: Materials Science & Engineering, Civil & Structural Engineering, Chemical & Process Engineering, Environmental Science & Engineering, Chemistry, Geology, Physics, Biology/Biotechnology, Industrial Ecology, Architecture & Building Science, and Computational Modeling. The topics include but are not limited to:

1. Sustainable and Resilient Construction Materials

• Low-carbon binders (geopolymers, alkali-activated materials, limestone calcined clay cement, magnesium-based cements).
• Utilization of industrial by-products and waste streams as SCMs (slag, fly ash, silica fume, rice husk ash, etc.) and aggregates (recycled concrete, construction and demolition waste, plastics, glass).
• Carbon capture, utilization, and storage technologies in concrete production and curing.
• Performance of materials under extreme terrestrial conditions (marine, arctic, desert) and extraterrestrial environments (lunar, Martian, orbital).
• Performance characterization, microstructure-property relationships, and long-term behavior of green concretes.

2. Other Green Materials

• Sustainable ceramics, polymers, composites, and metals.
• Bio-based materials and bio composites.
• Recycled and upcycled materials.
• Materials for renewable energy (solar, wind, batteries, hydrogen).
• Eco-efficient coatings, adhesives, and functional materials.
• Materials designed for circular economy principles (design for disassembly, recycling, reuse).

3. Infrastructure for Future Habitats

• Additive manufacturing (3D printing).
• Robotic construction, and smart material integration.
• Sustainable structural systems for space stations, lunar bases, Martian colonies, and other off-world environments.

4. Fundamental Science and Characterization

• Novel synthesis and processing routes for green materials (low-energy, solvent-free, bio-inspired).
• Advanced characterization techniques (multi-scale modeling, in-situ monitoring, AI/ML applications) to understand structure-property-sustainability relationships.
• Degradation mechanisms and long-term performance prediction in service environments.
• Material interactions with the biosphere and ecotoxicology.

5. Interdisciplinary Approaches and Case Studies

• Strongly encouraged: Research integrating materials science, civil engineering, chemical engineering, environmental science, chemistry, biology, geology, architecture, industrial ecology, and social sciences.
• Critical inclusion: Comprehensive case studies demonstrating the real-world application, performance validation, environmental benefits, and economic viability of green materials in construction projects, infrastructure rehabilitation, industrial applications, and consumer products.
• Studies on scaling up laboratory innovations to pilot and industrial scales.

6. Sustainability Assessment and Systems Thinking

• Rigorous Life Cycle Assessment, Life Cycle Costing, and Social Life Cycle Assessment applied to material systems.
• Carbon footprint analysis, water footprint, and other environmental impact assessments.
• Material flow analysis and circular economy strategies for the built environment and manufacturing.
• Policy, regulatory frameworks, and standardization supporting green material adoption.
• Social acceptance and market transformation studies.