Recent Advances in Catalytic and Electrocatalytic Sustainable Aviation Fuel Production

The production of sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) is a scalable route to decarbonize aviation. Here, we critically showcase and examine recent catalytic and electrocatalytic SAF routes and preliminarily analyse selected works using the CHEM21 Toolkit at a laboratory-scale level. Substantial advances have been achieved in recent years using renewable and waste-derived feedstocks, such as CO/CO 2 , fatty acids, sugars, lignin, and plastics, particularly through selective deoxygenation and C–C coupling strategies, waste-derived hydrocarbon upgrading, C1-to-SAF conversion, and emerging electrochemical approaches. The preliminary CHEM21-based assessment provided zero- and first-pass perspectives on catalyst selection, carbon/atom efficiency, operating conditions, and process design considerations of emerging laboratory-scale processes. In addition, we found that theoretical yields, which are key benchmarks for assessing process optimization, are rarely estimated. Substantial advances have been achieved using renewable and waste-derived feedstocks, such as CO/CO 2 , fatty acids, sugars, lignin, and plastics, particularly through selective deoxygenation and C–C coupling strategies, waste-derived hydrocarbon upgrading, C1-to-SAF conversion, and emerging electrochemical approaches. The preliminary CHEM21-based assessment provides zero- and first-pass perspectives on catalyst selection, carbon and atom efficiency, operating conditions, and process design considerations for emerging laboratory-scale processes. In addition, we identify that theoretical yields, despite being key benchmarks for assessing process optimization, are rarely estimated.