Emerging Micropollutants: Challenges and Solutions in Detection and Treatment

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Water Quality and Contamination".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 July 2025 | Viewed by 76

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Chemical Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
Interests: organic pollutants detection; photocatalytic degradation; catalytic ozonation; spectroscopic analysis; micropollutants

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Environmental and Biological Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China
Interests: environmental analysis; organic contaminants; Raman spectroscopy; SERS; FTIR

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Accompanied by rapid development of industrialization and urbanization processes around the world, the increasing chemical pollution of aquatic environments has emerged as a severe threat. Micropollutants, which are mainly organic chemicals, have been regarded as significant challenges in water treatment due to their low concentrations, exceptional chemical stability, and profound toxicity. In recent decades, tremendous efforts have been taken to conveniently quantify, identify, and remove micropollutants in water. Common chemicals were chosen as target micropollutants to evaluate detection accuracy and removal efficiency. However, as people's awareness of health and safety increases, and as detection methods continue to develop, more and more emerging micropollutants are frequently detected in wastewater, surface water, and even groundwater. Most of the emerging micropollutants are generated and discharged during human activities. Although their concentrations in the natural environment are low, they are structurally stable and can persist in the aquatic environment with strong bioaccumulation; the metabolites of some emerging pollutants may be more toxic than the parent, and some even have carcinogenic, teratogenic, and mutagenic effects. Since emerging micropollutants are now widely present in the natural environment, there is an urgent need to understand their nature and characteristics, as well as their transport and transformation patterns in the aquatic environment.

We encourage all scientists to contribute their research results on the treatment of micropollutants in water to this Special Issue. Review papers are also welcome. The subtopics of a submitted manuscript may include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Establishing fingerprints of micropollutant distribution;
  • Determining the toxicity of micropollutants;
  • Rapid detection of micropollutants;
  • Treatment of micropollutants;
  • Treatment of micropollutants in industrial discharges;
  • Treatment of micropollutants in domestic emissions;
  • Treatment of micropollutants from agricultural emissions;
  • Treatment of micropollutants produced by microorganisms;
  • Adsorption of micropollutants;
  • Membrane separation of micropollutants;
  • Chemical oxidation of micropollutants;
  • Electrochemical oxidation of micropollutants;
  • Photocatalytic oxidation of micropollutants.

Dr. Jinghui Liu
Dr. Rui Lu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • water pollution
  • micropollutants
  • wastewater treatment
  • pollutant detection
  • pollutant treatment and water treatment processes

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Published Papers

This special issue is now open for submission.
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