Catalytic Materials in Wastewater Treatment

Dear Colleagues,

Industrial, agricultural, and municipal effluents frequently discharge a wide spectrum of contaminants, including complex organic compounds, heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which pose significant risks to aquatic ecosystems and human health. Conventional treatment technologies often fail to achieve compliance with increasingly stringent discharge regulations. In contrast, advanced catalytic materials—ranging from single-atom catalysts and metal–organic frameworks to biochar-supported hybrids—provide tunable active sites, enhanced reaction kinetics, and selective transformation pathways under mild operational conditions. This Special Issue aims to highlight recent advances that bridge fundamental surface science with practical water treatment applications, thereby accelerating the development of next-generation purification technologies.

We invite original research articles, mini-reviews, and perspectives focusing on the following themes:

• Design, synthesis, and scalable fabrication of novel catalytic adsorbents, membranes, and electrodes.
• Mechanistic insights via in situ/operando spectroscopy, electrochemistry, and DFT-based modeling.
• Activation of green oxidants (H₂O₂, PMS, PDS, PAA, PI, and O₃), or reductants (H₂ and e⁻) for degradation, detoxification, or resource recovery.
• Hybrid photocatalytic–electrocatalytic reactors and process intensification strategies.
• Life-cycle assessment, techno-economic analysis, and field demonstrations of catalytic treatment units.

By integrating material innovation with real-world engineering constraints, this issue aims to guide the next generation of sustainable, circular water-treatment systems.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Guilong Peng
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Catalysts is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.