Applications of Electrocatalysts for Water Treatment: Recent Advances

Dear Colleagues,

Growing concerns regarding hitherto-unforeseen aqueous micropollutants along with more stringent requirements for water treatment have led us to variable advanced redox processes. In particular, electrochemical processes with electrocatalysts as core components would be one of the most direct methods to control and monitor the redox transformation and separation of aqueous pollutants. Moreover, parallel water splitting and direct electron transfer from energy-rich pollutants have allowed wastewater electrolysis cells or fuel cells to meet the blooming need for energy recovery during water treatment, partly in combination with renewable energy sources. The electrocatalytic water treatment process involves direct charge transfer, generation of reactive O/Cl/H species, and capacitive sorption of ions, among others. The key requirements to achieving a broad application is to engineer the electrocatalytic materials with suitable properties, such as electrochemically active surface area, electrical conductivity, adsorption energy to reactant/product, and capacitance. On the other hand, the electrochemical water treatment processes have been commercially available for many years. However, results of long-term field operation focusing on problems associated with side reactions in natural (waste)water have rarely been shared in this community.

Submissions to this Special Issue on “Applications of Electrocatalysts for Water Treatment: From Lab to Field” are welcome in the form of original research papers or short reviews on all aspects of electrochemical water treatment, featuring the state-of-the-art developments on electrocatalysts and electrochemical processes as well as the application of existing materials/processes in field environments. Research findings on electrochemical redox processes are of prime importance to this Special Issue, while parallel attention will be given to electro-deionization technologies.

Prof. Dr. Kangwoo Cho
Prof. Dr. Chong Min Chung
Guest Editor

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• electro-oxidation/reduction
• electrochemical activation of oxidants
• electro-flotation/coagulation/deposition
• capacitive deionization/electrodialysis
• wastewater electrolysis cell
• wastewater fuel cell