Adsorption/Degradation for Environmental Pollutants
A special issue of Separations (ISSN 2297-8739). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Separations".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 May 2026 | Viewed by 8
Special Issue Editors
Interests: environmental behavior of emerging contaminants; solid waste treatment and resource recovery technology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue advances research on sorption and degradation of pollutants across water, air and soil. The scope covers conventional contaminants and new pollutants that have emerged in recent years, including heavy metals, dyes, volatile organic compounds, per and polyfluoroalkyl substances, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, micro- and nano-plastics and antibiotic resistance determinants. We seek contributions that clarify mechanisms and inform robust and scalable technologies.
Core themes include adsorption from molecular understanding to process design. We welcome studies on the creation and functional tuning of high-efficiency adsorbents, thermodynamics and kinetics of uptake, selectivity in complex matrices and strategies for regeneration and long-term durability that enable circular use. Degradation is equally central, with emphasis on catalytic and photocatalytic routes, advanced oxidation and reduction processes, enzymatic catalysis and microbial pathways that transform pollutants into benign products.
Suggested topics
- Sorption mechanisms and selectivity for conventional and emerging pollutants in water, air and soil
- Design, functionalization, regeneration and durability of high-performance adsorbents linked to capacity and kinetics
- Chemical and biological degradation pathways, including advanced oxidation and reduction, photocatalysis, enzymatic and microbial routes, with transformation product and toxicity analysis
- Integrated capture and convert systems that couple sorption with in situ degradation, including catalytic adsorbents and reactive membranes
- Competitive sorption, mass transfer and kinetics in realistic matrices
- Multi-scale characterization and modeling of sorption and degradation, including in situ and operando spectroscopy and DFT.
Dr. Xiaoying Guo
Dr. Jie Zhang
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 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. Separations 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.
Keywords
- pollutant separation
- sorption mechanisms
- chemical and biological degradation
- environmental remediation
- environmental pollution control
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