Background

The rapid emergence of pharmaceuticals, antibiotics, PFAS, microplastics, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, and other novel contaminants poses growing challenges to water quality and environmental sustainability. Their persistence, mobility, and complexity highlight the need for more selective, efficient, and sustainable water treatment technologies.

This Special Issue is closely aligned with several major 2025 Research Fronts in Ecology and Environmental Sciences, including single-atom catalysts and persulfate activation for selective pollutant degradation, advanced nanofiltration for selective separation, microplastic contamination, and planetary-boundary risks associated with novel entities and chemical pollution. These emerging frontiers highlight the need to move beyond conventional contaminant removal toward next-generation approaches that integrate advanced catalysis, selective separation, environmental safety, and sustainability.

Against this background, this Special Issue aims to bring together recent advances in next-generation water treatment for emerging contaminants, covering innovative strategies for their detection, removal, transformation, and risk control. Particular emphasis will be placed on advanced treatment technologies, sustainable environmental solutions, and the translation of innovative research into practical water and wastewater applications, providing a platform for interdisciplinary advances in sustainable water treatment.

Scope

This Special Issue welcomes original research articles, reviews, perspectives, and case studies on innovative and sustainable approaches to emerging contaminants in water and wastewater. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

1. Emerging Contaminants and Environmental Risks

Research on the occurrence, fate, transport, transformation, and environmental risks of PFAS, pharmaceuticals, antibiotics, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, microplastics/nanoplastics, and other novel contaminants.

2. Advanced Catalysis and Pollutant Degradation

Innovations in single-atom and advanced catalysts, persulfate-based oxidation, photocatalysis, electrochemical treatment, and other selective degradation technologies, including degradation mechanisms, catalyst stability, and regeneration.

3. Selective Separation and Functional Materials

Advances in nanofiltration, functional membranes, adsorption, molecular recognition, and hybrid separation systems for selective contaminant removal and resource recovery.

4. Sustainable and Integrated Water Treatment

Development of low-energy and low-carbon treatment technologies, integrated treatment systems, resource recovery, circular water treatment, and green treatment processes, including life-cycle and techno-economic assessment.

5. Microplastics, Novel Entities, and Environmental Remediation

Research on the detection, removal, transformation, fate, and environmental impacts of microplastics/nanoplastics and other novel entities, including contaminant interactions, ecotoxicity, and integrated remediation strategies.

6. From Laboratory Innovation to Real-World Applications

Studies addressing real wastewater treatment, pilot- and full-scale applications, technology scale-up, long-term performance, transformation products, and practical or regulatory challenges in sustainable water treatment.