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Cutting-Edge Separation Technologies for Water Reclamation and Reuse: Membranes, Nanomaterials, and Emerging Contaminant Control

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Wastewater Treatment and Reuse".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 July 2026 | Viewed by 447

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
1. Center for Energy and Environmental Sustainability, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX 77446, USA
2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX 77446, USA
Interests: advanced membranes; membrane techniques; photocatalysis; adsorption; desalination; nanomaterials for water purification; energy; environmental sustainability

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Center for Energy and Environmental Sustainability, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX 77446, USA
2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX 77446, USA
Interests: environment and energy; membranes; photocatalysis; environmental sustainability; air quality; life cycle and technoeconomic analysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Center for Energy and Environmental Sustainability, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX 77446, USA
2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX 77446, USA
Interests: water (PFAS-MP-As); distillation (AGMD-DCMD); soil (fertilizer); adsorption (biochar–soil)

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Water scarcity, intensifying industrial activity, and the growing complexity of wastewater streams have created an urgent need for sustainable water-reclamation technologies. This Special Issue, titled “Cutting-Edge Separation Technologies for Water Reclamation and Reuse: Membranes, Nanomaterials, and Emerging Contaminant Control”, aims to bring together innovative research and advanced engineering approaches that address the global challenge of securing high-quality water for municipal, industrial, agricultural, and environmental use. Emphasis is placed on membrane-based separations, including forward osmosis, reverse osmosis, ultrafiltration, microfiltration, and membrane distillation, which continue to evolve into highly efficient, energy-conscious platforms for treating diverse contaminated waters such as produced water, brines, and PFAS-impacted effluents.

The Special Issue also welcomes contributions on electrospun nanofiber membranes, nanomaterial-enabled purification strategies, surface modification techniques to enhance antifouling and selectivity, and emerging hybrid systems integrating sensing, adsorption, catalysis, or electrochemical processes. Research that advances PFAS detection and removal, membrane durability, pilot-scale demonstrations, techno-economic analysis, and life cycle sustainability assessments is highly encouraged.

Through this collection, we aim to highlight cutting-edge materials, novel system configurations, and transformative treatment concepts that can significantly improve the reliability and circularity of water reuse systems worldwide. We encourage scholars, industry practitioners, and interdisciplinary teams to contribute original research articles, reviews, and short communications that advance the science and practice of water reclamation.

Dr. Sunith Madduri
Prof. Dr. Raghava R. Kommalapati
Dr. Prashan M. Rodrigo
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. Water 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 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

  • forward osmosis
  • reverse osmosis
  • ultrafiltration
  • microfiltration
  • electrospun nanofiber membranes
  • membrane distillation
  • membrane surface modification
  • produced water treatment
  • PFAS detection and removal
  • nanomaterials for water purification
  • photocaatalysis
  • adsorption

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 2446 KB  
Article
Synergetic Micellar-Enhanced Membrane System for the Removal of Cobalt from Wastewater
by Raghava R. Kommalapati, Prakriti Sapkota and Sunith B. Madduri
Water 2026, 18(12), 1418; https://doi.org/10.3390/w18121418 - 10 Jun 2026
Viewed by 155
Abstract
The increasing discharge of cobalt-containing effluents from metallurgical, electroplating, and battery-related industries necessitates the development of efficient and stable separation technologies. In this study, a sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-assisted micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration (MEUF) process was systematically evaluated for the removal of Co2+ from [...] Read more.
The increasing discharge of cobalt-containing effluents from metallurgical, electroplating, and battery-related industries necessitates the development of efficient and stable separation technologies. In this study, a sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-assisted micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration (MEUF) process was systematically evaluated for the removal of Co2+ from aqueous solutions using a flat-sheet polyethersulfone (PES) membrane operated under crossflow conditions. The effects of surfactant concentration, initial solution pH, cobalt concentration, background electrolyte, and extended filtration time were examined to assess process performance and operational stability. Direct ultrafiltration of 50 mg L−1 Co2+ without surfactant resulted in limited rejection (~18%). The introduction of SDS markedly improved removal efficiency, achieving >99% rejection at and above 1 critical micelle concentration (CMC). An SDS dosage of 1 CMC provided an optimal balance between permeate flux (~155 L m−2 h−1) and cobalt removal (>99%). The system maintained high rejection efficiency across a pH range of 3–9, demonstrating robust cobalt–micelle interactions. Increasing the initial cobalt concentration from 10 to 50 mg L−1 caused a moderate decline in flux but did not significantly affect rejection efficiency. In contrast, elevated ionic strength due to NaNO3 addition reduced both flux and cobalt removal, highlighting the influence of competing ions on micelle-mediated separation. Long-term continuous operation for 40 h showed stable permeate flux and sustained cobalt rejection above 99%, indicating minimal fouling. FTIR and SEM–EDS analyses confirmed membrane chemical stability and negligible cobalt deposition. These findings demonstrate that SDS-based MEUF is an effective and operationally stable approach for cobalt removal from contaminated water systems. Full article
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