Separation Techniques and Circular Economy

Dear Colleagues,

Efficient separation techniques play an important role in the process of resource recovery, such as physical, chemical, physico-chemical, and/or biological methods, which are selected due to being low-cost, low-energy, and free of secondary pollution. Additionally, the highest possible value added of the separated products is obtained to enhance the economy. For example, to address concerns regarding the contamination of water resources, various separation techniques, such as membrane separation, adsorption, ion exchange, solvent extraction, magnetic separation, filtration, flocculation, sedimentation, and centrifugal separation with physico-chemical processes, have been developed for wastewater treatment to effectively recycle various substances such as phosphates, humic substances, biological plastics, cellulose, polysaccharides, proteins, lipids, extracellular polymer substances, organics, and precious metals. Furthermore, parallel developments in biorefinery technologies further enable the transformation of biomass into renewable chemicals and biofuels, reducing the dependence on petrochemical feedstocks. This Topic, entitled “Separation Techniques and Circular Economy”, aims to address novel separation technologies involving resource recovery in various fields. It seeks to include, but is not limited to, recent progress in separation technologies, both at the industrial and scientific levels, as well as studies relating to value-added products and economic assessments.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Yours faithfully,

Dr. Da-Qi Cao
Prof. Dr. Qunhui Wang
Dr. Yuanyuan Ren
Dr. Yangmo Zhu
Topic Editors