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Advanced Adsorption Technology for Water 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 August 2025 | Viewed by 3487

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Environmental Engineering and Management, Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iasi, 73 D. Mangeron Street, 700050 Iasi, Romania
Interests: wastewater treatment; adsorption; advanced oxidation processes; innovative materials; wastewater recycling and reuse; sustainability assessment; circular economy
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The advanced treatment of drinking water and wastewater is essential for safeguarding public health and protecting the environment. Among the various treatment methods, adsorption technology is highly effective for removing a broad spectrum of contaminants, including organic pollutants and pathogens.

This Special Issue is dedicated to exploring the latest advancements in adsorption technology for water and wastewater treatment. Our goal is to address the presence of emerging contaminants, examine innovative adsorption materials and methods, and explore the broader implications of these technologies on water quality and safety.

I invite contributions that cover, but are not limited to, the following topics:

  • Innovative adsorption materials and their applications in water and wastewater treatment.
  • Advanced adsorption processes and their efficiency in removing various contaminants.
  • The development and optimization of adsorption-based systems for water purification.
  • The impact of adsorption technology on the control of by-products and secondary contaminants.
  • Economic and environmental assessments of adsorption-based water/wastewater treatment solutions.
  • Future trends and challenges in the development of adsorption technologies for water and wastewater treatment.

I look forward to your submissions and to advancing our understanding and application of adsorption technology in water and wastewater treatment.

Dr. Daniela Fighir
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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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

  • adsorption
  • innovative materials
  • emerging pollutants
  • wastewater treatment
  • water treatment

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 20794 KiB  
Article
Pb2+ Adsorption, Performance, and Response Surface Optimization of Hydroxyapatite Nanowire Sodium Alginate Aerogel (HSA)
by Weiyuan Cao, Zixuan Yang, Ren Liu, Zilin Zhang, Guokuan Chen, Zilin Zhou and Liwei Xu
Water 2025, 17(5), 631; https://doi.org/10.3390/w17050631 - 21 Feb 2025
Viewed by 389
Abstract
A novel composite biomass aerogel adsorbent (HSA) was prepared by dual physical and chemical cross-linking using sodium alginate (SA) as an organic biomass template and hydroxyapatite nanowires (HAPNWs) as an inorganic biomass skeleton. The structure of the HSA was characterized by scanning electron [...] Read more.
A novel composite biomass aerogel adsorbent (HSA) was prepared by dual physical and chemical cross-linking using sodium alginate (SA) as an organic biomass template and hydroxyapatite nanowires (HAPNWs) as an inorganic biomass skeleton. The structure of the HSA was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray powder diffractometry (XRD), Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and stress testing. One-factor experiments were conducted focusing on adsorption conditions at a Pb ion concentration of 300 mg/L, and the adsorption conditions were optimized using the response surface method. The optimal conditions obtained by numerical optimization using Design-Expert 13 were as follows: pH of 7.23, adsorption temperature of 35.42 °C, and adsorption time of 1050.73 min; the optimal adsorption capacity was 278.874 mg/g. To further reveal the adsorption mechanism of HSA, its adsorption model and kinetics were analyzed. Adsorption was most consistent with the Langmuir isothermal adsorption model, while the kinetics were most consistent with the pseudo-secondary kinetic model. R2 reached 0.9986, indicating a mono-molecular layer of adsorption by heat, while the main adsorption mechanism was chemisorption. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Adsorption Technology for Water and Wastewater Treatment)
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15 pages, 3922 KiB  
Article
Enhancing the Fluoride Adsorption Efficiency of Diatomaceous Earth Through Modification with Ce/Al/Fe Metal Oxides
by Tshilidzi L. Budeli, Wilson M. Gitari and Rabelani Mudzielwana
Water 2025, 17(1), 129; https://doi.org/10.3390/w17010129 - 6 Jan 2025
Viewed by 751
Abstract
Sustainable Development Goal 6.1 calls for the development of technologies to improve water quality for human consumption to ensure that there is clean drinking water for everyone by 2030. This study aims to contribute to the goal by synthesizing Ce/Al/Fe metal oxide-modified diatomaceous [...] Read more.
Sustainable Development Goal 6.1 calls for the development of technologies to improve water quality for human consumption to ensure that there is clean drinking water for everyone by 2030. This study aims to contribute to the goal by synthesizing Ce/Al/Fe metal oxide-modified diatomaceous earth for the adsorption of fluoride from drinking water. Adsorption experiments were performed to determine the effectiveness of the Ce/Al/Fe metal oxide-modified diatomaceous earth in regard to fluoride adsorption. About 98% fluoride removal efficiency was obtained from an initial fluoride concentration of 5 mg/L, using a 0.6 g/100 mL adsorbent dosage, at an initial pH range from 4 to 10, after 50 min agitation time. The adsorption kinetics models revealed that fluoride adsorption occurred via chemisorption, while the isotherm models confirmed both monolayer and multilayer adsorption. Thermodynamic studies showed that the adsorption process was spontaneous, endothermic, and random, as denoted by the negative ΔG°, positive ΔH°, and positive ΔS°, respectively. Regeneration studies showed that Ce/Al/Fe metal oxide-modified diatomaceous earth can be reused for eight successive regeneration–reuse cycles. This study revealed that the modification of diatomaceous earth with Ce/Al/Fe metal oxides enhances its fluoride adsorption capacity and that it is suitable for use in the defluoridation of groundwater. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Adsorption Technology for Water and Wastewater Treatment)
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17 pages, 2665 KiB  
Article
Aqueous-Medium Arsenic(V) Removal Using Iron Oxide-Coated Ignimbrite
by Leslie Diana Velarde-Apaza, Azucena Chávez-Collantes, Richard Solorzano-Acosta, Juan-Pablo Cuevas and José Antonio Villanueva-Salas
Water 2025, 17(1), 53; https://doi.org/10.3390/w17010053 - 28 Dec 2024
Viewed by 792
Abstract
Arsenate As(V) is a toxic contaminant commonly found in aquifers and groundwater that poses significant risks to human health. The effective treatment of arsenic-contaminated water is therefore crucial for safeguarding public health. This study investigates removing As(V) using iron oxide-coated ignimbrite in batch [...] Read more.
Arsenate As(V) is a toxic contaminant commonly found in aquifers and groundwater that poses significant risks to human health. The effective treatment of arsenic-contaminated water is therefore crucial for safeguarding public health. This study investigates removing As(V) using iron oxide-coated ignimbrite in batch experiments by varying the adsorbent dosage, initial As(V) concentration, contact time, and system temperature. The adsorption experiments revealed that the Langmuir isotherm model better fit the data (R2 = 0.99) than the Freundlich model (R2 = 0.73). According to the Langmuir model, the maximum adsorption capacity of As(V) on the iron oxide-coated ignimbrite was 4.84 mg·g⁻1 ± 0.12 mg·g⁻1 of As(V), with a standard deviation of ±0.05 mg·g⁻1 after 2 h of exposure with 0.15 g/50 mL iron oxide-coated ignimbrite adsorbent concentration. In the kinetic analysis, the pseudo-first-order model best described the adsorption process at 283 K, 293 K, and 303 K, although the pseudo-second-order model also showed an adequate fit, particularly at 293 K. This indicates that, while the pseudo-first-order model is generally more suitable under these conditions, the pseudo-second-order model may also apply under certain circumstances. The results of the batch experiments demonstrate that iron oxide-coated ignimbrite is a promising adsorbent for effectively reducing high concentrations of As(V) in contaminated water. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Adsorption Technology for Water and Wastewater Treatment)
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13 pages, 8518 KiB  
Article
The Performance and Mechanism of Solvothermal Synthesis of a Ca-Fe-La Composite for Enhanced Removal of Phosphate from Aqueous Solutions
by Xiaojun Xu, Qili Hu, Weiyi Qu, Hengyuan Liu and Zhihao He
Water 2024, 16(20), 2932; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16202932 - 15 Oct 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 950
Abstract
Since it is a limiting nutrient element in rivers and lakes, the effective removal of phosphorus is key to alleviating eutrophication. In this study, the one-pot solvothermal method was adopted to prepare an environmentally friendly Ca-Fe-La composite. This is an amorphous material with [...] Read more.
Since it is a limiting nutrient element in rivers and lakes, the effective removal of phosphorus is key to alleviating eutrophication. In this study, the one-pot solvothermal method was adopted to prepare an environmentally friendly Ca-Fe-La composite. This is an amorphous material with a large specific surface area of 278.41 m2 g−1. The effects of coexisting anions and pH on the phosphate removal performance were explored. Phosphate adsorption mechanisms were revealed by various characterization techniques. The phosphate adsorption obeyed the fractal-like pseudo-second-order (PSO) kinetic model, implying that the overall adsorption system was highly heterogeneous. In this work, the maximum adsorption capacity predicted by the Langmuir model was 93.0 mg g−1 (as PO43−-P). The phosphate-loaded Ca-Fe-La composite could be used as a slow-release fertilizer, achieving waste management and resource utilization. The presence of SO42−, CO32− and HCO3 anions inhibited the phosphate adsorption significantly. It was unfavorable for phosphate removal at a high pH value. Inner-sphere complexation and electrostatic attraction were mainly responsible for phosphate adsorption onto the Ca-Fe-La composite. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Adsorption Technology for Water and Wastewater Treatment)
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