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Molecules
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Advanced Removal of Emerging Pollutants and Its Mechanism
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Advanced Removal of Emerging Pollutants and Its Mechanism

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Green Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2025 | Viewed by 771

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Daniela Roxana Popovici

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Chemistry Department, Faculty of Petroleum Refining and Petrochemistry, Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiesti, 100680 Ploiesti, Romania
Interests: wastewater treatment; adsorption; kinetics; kinetic modeling; heterogeneous catalysis; catalytic hydrogenation
Dr. Cătălina Călin

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Chemistry Department, Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiesti, 100680 Ploiesti, Romania
Interests: thermal and chemical analyses of polymers; development of advanced characterization techniques
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Dorin Bombos

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Petroleum Refining and Petrochemistry, Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiesti, 39 Bucharest Boulevard, 100515 Ploiesti, Romania
Interests: wastewater treatment; adsorption; pollutant removal; biochar; catalysis; acid tar

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Emerging pollutants (EPs) are a growing concern for the environment and human health. These pollutants, including pharmaceuticals, personal care products, pesticides, and industrial chemicals, often persist through conventional treatment processes, leading to their accumulation in natural water bodies, consequently in their flora and fauna, and ultimately in the human body. The advanced removal of EPs has become a critical area of research, with various innovative technologies being developed to enhance removal efficiency and ensure environmental safety. Contributions presenting the latest advances in the removal of emerging pollutants are encouraged, focusing on methods that lead to their degradation, removal, and transformation. Given that, in practice, the problem of removing pollutants that are found to be mixed with a significant number of other pollutants always arises, authors are encouraged to present studies detailing methods for the simultaneous removal of several EPs, belonging to different categories of compounds (organic and inorganic). Thus, studies that present the mutual influence of different pollutants on the performance of their removal processes, as well as couplings of different removal methods to increase efficiency, are highly sought after. This Special Issue aims to deepen our understanding of the mechanisms behind these methods, such as reactive species generation, adsorption interactions, and microbial biodegradation, highlighting the potential of synergistic combinations to improve pollutant removal efficiency. We look forward to receiving your contributions.

We welcome the submission of both original research articles and comprehensive reviews focused on the abovementioned topics to this Special Issue.

Dr. Daniela Roxana Popovici
Dr. Cătălina Călin
Dr. Dorin Bombos
Guest Editors

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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2700 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.

Keywords

  • emerging contaminants
  • adsorption interactions
  • microbial biodegradation
  • pollutant removal efficiency
  • innovative technologies

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

15 pages, 2516 KB  
Article
Enhanced Amitriptyline Degradation by Electrochemical Activation of Peroxydisulfate: Mechanisms of Interfacial Catalysis and Mass Transfer
by Teer Wen, Fangying Hu, Yao Yue, Chuqiao Li, Yunfei He and Jiafeng Ding
Molecules 2025, 30(18), 3835; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules30183835 - 22 Sep 2025
Viewed by 365
Abstract
Amitriptyline (AMT), a widely prescribed antidepressant, and its metabolites have emerged as significant environmental contaminants, posing substantial risks to aquatic organisms and human health. Systematic and in-depth investigations into advanced anode materials, coupled with a profound elucidation of their electrochemical mechanisms, are imperative [...] Read more.
Amitriptyline (AMT), a widely prescribed antidepressant, and its metabolites have emerged as significant environmental contaminants, posing substantial risks to aquatic organisms and human health. Systematic and in-depth investigations into advanced anode materials, coupled with a profound elucidation of their electrochemical mechanisms, are imperative for the development of efficacious technologies for AMT removal. In this study, a series of amorphous carbon-encapsulated zinc oxide (C@ZnO) modified anodes were systematically synthesized and incorporated into a persulfate-based electrochemical system (CZ-PS) to comprehensively elucidate the catalytic mechanisms and mass transfer efficiencies governing the degradation of AMT via electroperoxidation. Notably, the CZ-PS system achieved a 97.5% degradation for 5.0 mg/L AMT within 120 min under optimized conditions (200 C@ZnO electrode, pH 7.0, current density 20 mA/cm2, PS concentration 0.5 mM), significantly outperforming the single PS system (37.8%) or the pure electrocatalytic system. Quenching experiments and EPR analysis confirmed hydroxyl radicals (•OH) and sulfate radicals (SO4•−) as the dominant reactive species. Both acidic and neutral pH conditions were demonstrated to favorably enhance the electrocatalytic degradation efficiency by improving adsorption performance and inhibiting •OH decomposition. The system retained >90% degradation efficiency after 5 electrode cycles. Three degradation pathways and 13 intermediates were identified via UPLC–MS/MS analysis, including side-chain demethylation and oxidative ring-opening of the seven-membered ring to form aldehyde/carboxylic acid compounds, ultimately mineralizing into CO2 and H2O. It demonstrates strong engineering potential and provides a green, high-efficiency strategy for antibiotic wastewater treatment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Removal of Emerging Pollutants and Its Mechanism)
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