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Advanced Functional Materials for Water Pollution Control and Wastewater Treatment
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Advanced Functional Materials for Water Pollution Control and Wastewater Treatment

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 December 2026 | Viewed by 3216

Editors

Dr. Mengmeng Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Environment and Safety Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
Interests: solid waste treatment; wastewater treatment; environmental behavior; risk control; ARGs
Dr. Lingchao Kong

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Environment, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
Interests: water pollution control; wastewater treatment; environmental remediation; stable isotope; eutrophication; resource recovery

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Efficient and sustainable water pollution control remains one of the most urgent global environmental challenges. With the rapid emergence of recalcitrant organic contaminants, heavy metals, antibiotics, microplastics, PFAS, and complex industrial effluents, conventional treatment technologies often face limitations in selectivity, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. In recent years, advanced functional materials—ranging from engineered nanomaterials, catalytic composites, biochar derivatives, MOFs/COFs, and redox-active materials to engineered bio-materials, living materials, and smart responsive platforms—have shown unprecedented potential for addressing these challenges through enhanced adsorption, catalysis, redox transformation, membrane separation, and biological synergy.

This Special Issue aims to bring together cutting-edge research and transformative advances in functional materials for water pollution control and wastewater treatment. We welcome studies that develop innovative materials, elucidate interfacial mechanisms, integrate materials into treatment systems, or demonstrate pilot-scale and practical applications. Emphasis will be placed on materials-enabled solutions that promote efficiency, selectivity, sustainability, and environmental safety.

The scope of this Special Issue includes, but is not limited to, the following: Advanced adsorbents and catalytic materials for emerging pollutants (e.g., nanomaterials, biochar-based composites, MOF/COF hybrids, and redox catalysts).

  •  Photocatalytic, electrocatalytic, and sonocatalytic materials for degradation and mineralization.
  •  Functional membranes and membrane-assisted processes (nanofiltration, forward osmosis, and membrane distillation).
  •  Magnetic, hierarchical, and multifunctional materials enabling enhanced separation and recovery.
  •  Bio-inspired and living functional materials (e.g., enzyme-embedded systems, microalgae–bacteria composites, and 3D-printed bioactive materials).
  •  Material–microbe interactions for pollutant transformation, nutrient recovery, and ARG mitigation.
  •  Advanced materials for industrial wastewater treatment (textile, pharmaceutical, petrochemical, agricultural, and landfill leachate).
  •  Mechanistic studies on adsorption, redox transformation, interfacial reactions, and catalytic pathways.
  •  Sustainability assessment, environmental impacts, and safety evaluation of functional materials.
  •  Pilot-scale demonstrations and engineering applications integrating advanced materials into treatment processes.

This Special Issue provides a platform for researchers, engineers, and industry practitioners to showcase recent scientific breakthroughs and technological innovations that push the boundaries of materials-enabled water treatment. We welcome original research articles, critical reviews, perspectives, and mini reviews that address the challenges and opportunities emerging at the interface of materials science, environmental chemistry, and water treatment engineering.

Dr. Mengmeng Wang
Dr. Lingchao Kong
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-anonymized 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

  • functional materials
  • water pollution control
  • wastewater treatment
  • nanomaterials
  • catalytic degradation
  • photocatalysis

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

24 pages, 939 KB  
Article
Water Decontamination of Sulfide Flotation Effluents: Removal of Sodium Diethyl Dithiophosphate (Sodium Aerofloat) Using Thermochemically Modified Activated Carbon
by Daniel Maldonado, Ernesto de la Torre and Carlos F. Aragón-Tobar
Water 2026, 18(15), 1893; https://doi.org/10.3390/w18151893 - 3 Aug 2026
Viewed by 372
Abstract
Mining flotation effluents may contain residual collectors that pose risks to aquatic environments when discharged without adequate treatment. Among these compounds, sodium diethyl dithiophosphate (SDE DTP) is of particular concern due to its persistence and potential ecotoxicological effects. This study evaluated the removal [...] Read more.
Mining flotation effluents may contain residual collectors that pose risks to aquatic environments when discharged without adequate treatment. Among these compounds, sodium diethyl dithiophosphate (SDE DTP) is of particular concern due to its persistence and potential ecotoxicological effects. This study evaluated the removal of SDE DTP from aqueous media using commercial activated carbon and thermochemically modified activated carbon prepared through nitric acid oxidation and urea treatment. Batch adsorption experiments were conducted using synthetic SDE DTP solutions and a laboratory-generated flotation effluent obtained from a copper sulfide ore containing approximately 0.5 wt.% Cu. A UV–visible spectrophotometric method was applied for the quantification of SDE DTP in both systems. The effects of adsorbent dosage, solution pH, and surface modification were investigated. Adsorption performance increased with activated carbon dosage and was strongly influenced by pH. Thermochemical modification significantly enhanced adsorption performance, increasing SDE DTP removal from 40% for unmodified carbon to 93% for the modified material. The modified adsorbent also maintained high efficiency in real flotation effluent, achieving 88% removal despite competing dissolved species. These results demonstrate that thermochemically modified activated carbon is a promising functional material for treating flotation effluents contaminated with dithiophosphate collectors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Functional Materials for Water Pollution Control and Wastewater Treatment)
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18 pages, 1097 KB  
Article
Comparative Study of UV-Based AOPs for Degradation of Hydrophilic Ribavirin and Hydrophobic Chloroquine Phosphate: Performance, Radical Pathways, EEO, and Water Matrix Effects
by Xicheng Wang, Junqi Jia, Zhangbin Pan, Congcong Li, Zhenqi Du and Ruibao Jia
Water 2026, 18(13), 1548; https://doi.org/10.3390/w18131548 - 25 Jun 2026
Viewed by 506
Abstract
Ribavirin (RBV) and chloroquine phosphate (CQP) are two typical pharmaceutical contaminants with distinct hydrophilic (RBV) and hydrophobic (CQP) properties. This polarity contrast led to markedly different degradation behaviors. Interestingly, hydrophobic CQP consistently degraded faster and with lower EEO than hydrophilic RBV across [...] Read more.
Ribavirin (RBV) and chloroquine phosphate (CQP) are two typical pharmaceutical contaminants with distinct hydrophilic (RBV) and hydrophobic (CQP) properties. This polarity contrast led to markedly different degradation behaviors. Interestingly, hydrophobic CQP consistently degraded faster and with lower EEO than hydrophilic RBV across all combined systems, highlighting pollutant polarity as a key determinant. This study systematically compared their degradation by three UV-based advanced oxidation processes (UV/AOPs): UV/H2O2, UV/PMS, and UV/KMnO4. Degradation kinetics, electrical energy per order (EEO), radical pathways, and water matrix effects were investigated. Sole UV or sole oxidant achieved negligible removal (<7.2%). All UV/AOPs greatly enhanced degradation in a dose-dependent manner. At equal molar oxidant concentration (0.2 mM), the efficiency order was UV/PMS > UV/H2O2 ≫ UV/KMnO4, with the gap widening at higher dosages. UV/H2O2 exhibited the best overall performance, with remarkably low EEO values (0.59 kWh/m3 for RBV and 0.46 kWh/m3 for CQP at 0.2 mM), whereas UV/PMS showed faster kinetics but much higher energy consumption (e.g., 28.67 kWh/m3 for RBV and 28.60 kWh/m3 for CQP at 0.4 mM) and secondary pollution risks. UV/KMnO4 had low energy but poor degradation. Radical quenching experiments revealed that in UV/H2O2, hydroxyl radicals (•OH) predominantly drove degradation regardless of pollutant polarity. In UV/PMS, •OH primarily drove RBV degradation, while CQP removal involved the combined action of •OH, sulfate radicals (SO4•−), and other reactive species. For the optimal UV/H2O2 process, acidic pH (5.0) favored degradation; Cl− slightly promoted CQP removal but inhibited RBV, whereas SO42−, CO32−, and HCO3− suppressed both pollutants. Collectively, UV/H2O2 is recommended as the most energy-efficient and robust UV/AOP for treating both hydrophilic and hydrophobic pharmaceuticals, with the additional insight that pollutant polarity governs both degradation kinetics and radical mechanisms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Functional Materials for Water Pollution Control and Wastewater Treatment)
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19 pages, 17539 KB  
Article
Degradation of Sulfamethoxazole in Soil by Peroxydisulfate Activated with Biochar-Supported Sulfidated Nanoscale Zero-Valent Iron: Effect of Soil Organic Matter
by Zexu Zhang, Guangyu Li, Yuxin Lan, Qingrui Liu, Jie Ju, Jinan Bai, Zhihui Kang and Weijian Liu
Water 2026, 18(10), 1234; https://doi.org/10.3390/w18101234 - 20 May 2026
Viewed by 525
Abstract
To improve the removal efficiency of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) in soil and to elucidate the role of soil organic matter (SOM) in peroxydisulfate (PDS)-based in situ chemical oxidation, a biochar-supported sulfidated nanoscale zero-valent iron (BC@S-nZVI)-activated PDS system was constructed in this study. The removal [...] Read more.
To improve the removal efficiency of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) in soil and to elucidate the role of soil organic matter (SOM) in peroxydisulfate (PDS)-based in situ chemical oxidation, a biochar-supported sulfidated nanoscale zero-valent iron (BC@S-nZVI)-activated PDS system was constructed in this study. The removal behavior and removal mechanisms of SMX were systematically compared between aqueous and soil systems, and the regulatory role of SOM was further clarified. Characterization results showed that BC@S-nZVI was successfully constructed with a composite interface consisting of a biochar support framework, an Fe0 core, and surface Fe-S structures. Under the optimized conditions, the BC@S-nZVI/PDS system achieved 92.9% removal of SMX within 120 min in the aqueous system, which was significantly higher than that of the nZVI/PDS and BC/PDS systems. In the soil system, the removal efficiency of SMX reached 74.4% within 120 min, and further increased to 91.3% after targeted removal of SOM. Results from radical quenching experiments, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, and chemical probe tests demonstrated that •OH and SO4•− were the dominant reactive species driving SMX degradation in the aqueous system, while 1O2 played an auxiliary role. In contrast, in the soil system, SOM, acting as a natural reductive component, competitively consumed •OH and SO4•−, thereby markedly suppressing the radical oxidation pathway. Compared with these radical species, 1O2 exhibited stronger resistance to background interference and became the key reactive species responsible for the sustained transformation of SMX in soil. These findings demonstrate that the BC@S-nZVI/PDS system has considerable potential for the remediation of antibiotic-contaminated soils and reveal a mechanistic shift from radical-dominated to non-radical-dominated pathways under the interference of soil organic components. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Functional Materials for Water Pollution Control and Wastewater Treatment)
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20 pages, 2342 KB  
Article
Reactivation and Nitrogen Removal Performance of Idle Anammox Sludge Enhanced by Rape Straw Biochar
by Qiang Chen, Yi Ding, Zhicheng Xu, Haibin Zhou, Ruoyu Zhang, Jiao Chen, Yixin Lu and Wenlai Xu
Water 2026, 18(1), 18; https://doi.org/10.3390/w18010018 - 20 Dec 2025
Viewed by 1159
Abstract
Low reactivation efficiency of idle anaerobic ammonia oxidation (anammox) sludge hinders its reapplication. To address this issue, rape straw biochar (RSB) was added in the reactivation process of idle anammox sludge, and its effects on the nitrogen transformation and sludge characteristics were investigated, [...] Read more.
Low reactivation efficiency of idle anaerobic ammonia oxidation (anammox) sludge hinders its reapplication. To address this issue, rape straw biochar (RSB) was added in the reactivation process of idle anammox sludge, and its effects on the nitrogen transformation and sludge characteristics were investigated, and the mechanism of RSB to enhance the reactivation performance was explored. Results indicated that adding 5 g/L RSB for 35 days successfully reactivated anammox sludge that had been idle for 270 days. The reactivation time was reduced by 34% compared to the control without RSB. During the stable operation period, the average TN removal efficiency reached 90.6%, and the sludge exhibited higher activity. After completion of reactivation, the specific surface area, total pore volume, and average pore diameter of RSB decreased by 59.4%, 66.9%, and 55.2%, respectively, compared with that before reactivation, and the carbon–oxygen functional groups also changed. RSB not only provided a habitat for the enriched growth of nitrogen transforming functional flora but also possessed the potential to supply sufficient electron donors and acceptors for the nitrogen transforming process, which promoted the synergistic removal of nitrate by denitrification, resulting in an effective enhancement of reactivation efficiency and nitrogen removal performance. The addition of RSB provides a novel strategy to enhance the reactivation efficiency of idle anammox sludge, which is of positive significance in promoting its efficient reuse and stable operation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Functional Materials for Water Pollution Control and Wastewater Treatment)
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