Advanced Membrane Separation Technology for Complex Water/Wastewater Treatment
A special issue of Separations (ISSN 2297-8739). This special issue belongs to the section "Purification Technology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 January 2026 | Viewed by 4
Special Issue Editors
Interests: electrodialysis; desalination; resource recovery; wastewater treatment; micro-pollutants
Interests: membrane science and technology; industrial pollution prevention and control
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Membrane separation technology has been widely applied in drinking water purification and wastewater treatment due to its high efficiency, compact footprint, and environmental friendliness. However, when treating complex water and wastewater containing scaling ions (e.g., Ca2+, Mg2+), humic substances, and colloidal particles, membranes often suffer from severe fouling and performance degradation, limiting their long-term stability. Additionally, the fate of trace emerging contaminants, such as pharmaceuticals and microplastics, remains unclear, necessitating novel membrane materials and processes to enhance their selective removal.
Beyond pollutant removal, membrane technology holds great potential for resource recovery, including nitrogen, phosphorus, and certain organic acids; however, further research is needed to optimize separation selectivity and energy efficiency. To address these challenges, this Special Issue invites contributions on innovative membrane materials (e.g., nanocomposite, biomimetic, or stimuli-responsive membranes), advanced fouling control strategies, and hybrid processes (e.g., membrane electrochemistry, membrane bioreactors, and membrane-used wastewater treatment processes). Studies on selective separation mechanisms, life-cycle assessments, membrane process modeling, and pilot-scale applications are also encouraged.
Therefore, it is my pleasure to invite you to contribute research articles, communications, or reviews to this Special Issue dedicated to membrane separation processes, fouling, modeling, and analytical techniques for the advancement of water and wastewater treatment.
Dr. Lin Shi
Prof. Dr. Fang Li
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. 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
- membrane separation
- water
- wastewater
- resource recovery
- fouling
- scaling
- emerging contaminants
- process modeling
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