Metal Removal from Wastewater Using Biomass and Carbon-Based Materials

Dear Colleagues,

Some 70% of the Earth‘s surface is covered by water; water pollution is therefore associated with serious environmental, economic and health risks. Wastewater, whether of industrial or domestic origin, can contain bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms, as well as a number of organic and inorganic pollutants. Indeed, industrial-origin wastewater—especially from the metallurgical, textile, paper, tanning, fertilizer, and stock-raising sectors—is a major source of contaminating heavy metals, the accumulation of which in groundwater is a well-known problem. The use of such contaminated water in agriculture has provoked serious problems in some places. These heavy metals can be removed by physico-chemical techniques, such as ion exchange, membrane filtration, evaporation/precipitation, and oxidation/reduction, etc., but none are reliable when the concentration in solution is <100–150 mg·L⁻¹. Further, these techniques are costly. This Special Issue of Metals from the MDPI group explores the use of biomass (carbon-containing materials originating from biodegradable sources), modified biomass (e.g., by hydrothermal treatment, torrefaction and/or pyrolysis), and man-made carbon-containing materials (carbon nanotubes and nanofibres) in the removal of these metals from wastewater when in low concentration. With such knowledge, these pollutants might even be valorised.

Prof. Félix A. López
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. Metals 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 2600 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.