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Separations
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Photo-/Electro-/Photoelectro-Catalytic Removal of Pollutants in Environmental Matrices
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Photo-/Electro-/Photoelectro-Catalytic Removal of Pollutants in Environmental Matrices

A special issue of Separations (ISSN 2297-8739). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Separations".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 4 April 2026 | Viewed by 663

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Junzhuo Cai

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Environmental Science, Sichuan Agricultural University, Huimin Road 211, Chengdu 611130, China
Interests: photoelectrocatalysis; advanced oxidation processes; electrochemical analysis; operando detection; artificial humification

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the last decade, separation and removal technology based on photons and electrons has offered novel solutions to address increasingly severe environmental issues. A significant amount of research has been dedicated to applying photo-/electro-/photoelectro-chemical technology to pollutant treatment and analysis. Therefore, studies involving catalytic mechanisms, material creation, reactor design, and applications have emerged. Given the nature of heterogeneous reactions, the importance of separation is clear.

To cover recent progress in photo-/electro-/photoelectro-chemistry and promote further research on this technology, we are pleased to invite you to contribute to this  Special Issue entitled “Photo-/Electro-/Photoelectro-Catalytic Removal of Pollutants in Environmental Matrices”. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following research areas:

  • Removal of emerging pollutants by photo-/electro-/photoelectro-catalysis;
  • Separation of pollutants from environmental matrices for photo-/electro-/photoelectro-chemical analysis and detection;
  • Novel photo-/electro-/photoelectro-catalytic materials;
  • Intrinsic mechanisms of removal or material construction;
  • Toxicity assessment, risk, and environmental impact after pollutant removal by photo-/electro-/photoelectro-catalysis;
  • Unique photo-/electro-/photoelectro-catalytic reactors;
  • Application of photo-/electro-/photoelectro-catalytic in specific matrices.

Dr. Junzhuo Cai
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. 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

  • photoelectrocatalysis
  • emerging pollutants
  • heterogeneous catalyst
  • flow-through reactor
  • capacitive deionization
  • advanced oxidation processes
  • photoelectrocatlytic oxidation/reduction
  • electro-sorption
  • photo-/electro-/photoelectro-sensors

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

18 pages, 10429 KB  
Article
Intelligent Pulsed Electrochemical Activation of NaClO2 for Sulfamethoxazole Removal from Wastewater Driven by Machine Learning
by Naboxi Tian, Congyuan Zhang, Wenxiao Yang, Yunfeng Shen, Xinrong Wang and Junzhuo Cai
Separations 2026, 13(1), 31; https://doi.org/10.3390/separations13010031 - 15 Jan 2026
Viewed by 418
Abstract
Sulfamethoxazole (SMX), a widely used antibiotic, poses potential threats to ecosystems and human health due to its persistence and residues in aquatic environments. This study developed a novel intelligent water treatment system, namely Intelligent Pulsed Electrochemical Activation of NaClO2 (IPEANaClO2), [...] Read more.
Sulfamethoxazole (SMX), a widely used antibiotic, poses potential threats to ecosystems and human health due to its persistence and residues in aquatic environments. This study developed a novel intelligent water treatment system, namely Intelligent Pulsed Electrochemical Activation of NaClO2 (IPEANaClO2), which integrates a FeCuC-Ti4O7 composite electrode with machine learning (ML) to achieve efficient SMX removal and energy consumption optimization. Six key operational parameters—initial SMX concentration, NaClO2 dosage, reaction temperature, reaction time, pulsed potential, and pulsed frequency—were systematically investigated to evaluate their effects on removal efficiency and electrical specific energy consumption (E-SEC). Under optimized conditions (SMX 10 mg L−1, NaClO2 60~90 mM, pulsed frequency 10 Hz, temperature 313 K) for 60 min, the IPEANaClO2 system achieved an SMX removal efficiency of 89.9% with a low E-SEC of 0.66 kWh m−3. Among the ML models compared (back-propagation neural network, BPNN; gradient boosting decision tree, GBDT; random forest, RF), BPNN exhibited the best predictive performance for both SMX removal efficiency and E-SEC, with a coefficient of determination (R2) approaching 1 on the test set. Practical application tests demonstrated that the system maintained excellent stability across different water matrices, achieved a bacterial inactivation rate of 98.99%, and significantly reduced SMX residues in a simulated agricultural irrigation system. This study provides a novel strategy for the intelligent control and efficient removal of refractory organic pollutants in complex water bodies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photo-/Electro-/Photoelectro-Catalytic Removal of Pollutants in Environmental Matrices)
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