Separation and Speciation of Emerging Pollutants in Soil and Groundwater

Dear Colleagues,

Emerging pollutants, including micro-/nano-plastics, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), pharmaceuticals, personal care products (PPCPs), organophosphorus flame retardants (OPFRs), persistent organic pollutants (POPs), and hydrometallurgical organic reagents, pose increasing threats to soil and groundwater systems. Due to their persistence, bioaccumulation, and potential toxicity, these contaminants require advanced analytical approaches for effective separation, speciation, and environmental assessment.

This Special Issue aims to highlight the latest developments in analytical techniques for separating and speciating these pollutants, with a focus on innovative methods and interdisciplinary approaches. We welcome contributions that explore novel extraction techniques, such as solid-phase extraction (SPE), liquid–liquid extraction (LLE), and ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE), as well as advanced chromatographic and mass spectrometric methods for the identification and quantification of emerging pollutants in complex environmental matrices. Studies addressing the behavior, mobility, transformation, and ecological impacts of these pollutants in soil and groundwater are particularly encouraged.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

• Advanced separation technologies for emerging pollutants;
• Speciation analysis of pollutants in soil and groundwater;
• Environmental behavior and transformation of emerging contaminants;
• Extraction methods optimized for complex matrices;
• Case studies on pollutant distribution and risk assessment.

We invite researchers from environmental chemistry, analytical chemistry, toxicology, and related fields to contribute their research articles, communications, or reviews to this Special Issue to enhance our understanding of these critical environmental challenges.

Dr. Enzhu Hu
Guest Editor

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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Separations is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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.

• emerging pollutants
• soil and groundwater contamination
• separation technology
• environmental speciation
• nano-pesticides
• micro-/nano-plastics
• per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs)
• pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs)
• hydrometallurgical organic reagents
• organophosphorus flame retardants (OPFRs)