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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Pollution Prevention, Mitigation and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 March 2023) | Viewed by 16839

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Muhammad Rizwan Haider

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Guest Editor

School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen), Shenzhen 518055, China
Interests: wastewater treatment; electrochemical advanced oxidation; electrocatalysis; water purification technologies; nanomaterials for environmental applications; degradation of emerging pollutants

Dr. Jinglong Han

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Guest Editor

School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen), Shenzhen 518055, China
Interests: water regeneration and recycling technology; refractory wastewater treatment; membrane filtration; biochemical treatment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Muhammad Bilal Asif

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Guest Editor

Institute of Environmental Engineering and Nano-Technology, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 518055, China
Interests: membrane bioreactor (MBR); enzymatic membrane bioreactor; hybrid membrane separation processes; removal/degradation of emerging/priority micropollutants; advanced oxidation processes (AOPs)

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Water is a fundamental need for all forms of life. According to the WHO and UNICEF, 1 in 3 people globally did not have access to safe drinking water in 2019. The shortage of fresh water sources and increasing pollution due to industrial activities have exacerbated the situation. By 2025, half of the world’s population would be living in water-stressed areas. The development of efficient treatment processes to enable recycling and reuse of treated water is a collective responsibility of the scientific community in the field.

Advanced wastewater treatment technologies that can produce high-quality treated effluents for safe disposal or even possible reuse have become a research hotspot in recent years. These technologies mainly include membrane-based separation technologies, bioelecterochemical systems, and nanomaterials for adsorption and degradation through advanced oxidations process (AOPs). In situ generated hydroxyl radicals are non-selective oxidants in AOPs that can mineralize organic pollutants and prevent the formation of toxic byproducts, thus increasing the possibility of reuse of treated waters. These processes mainly include anodic oxidation, Fenton, electro/photoelectron Fenton, UV/H₂O₂ and ozonation, etc. Despite significant performance achievements, harsh material synthesis conditions using hazardous, non-sustainable chemical precursors have practically limited scale-up applications of highly effective water treatment technologies.

We have established this Special Issue to call for papers addressing recent developments in sustainable advanced wastewater treatment technologies for water reclamation and resource recovery. Studies related to sustainable, applied, and environmentally friendly synthesis of catalysts/electrocatalysts for anodic or cathodic (electro-Fenton) oxidation, photocatalysis, and novel developments in UV/H₂O₂ for the degradation of refractory organic pollutants, new developments in catalytic membranes, adsorption on unconventional solids, and their regeneration and reuse through sustainable approaches are welcomed.

Dr. Muhammad Rizwan Haider
Dr. Jinglong Han
Dr. Muhammad Bilal Asif
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2400 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

sustainable wastewater treatment
advanced oxidation processes
membrane-based separation technologies
homogeneous/heterogeneous catalysts
photo/electrocatalysis
electro-Fenton
sustainable catalysts synthesis

Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 1866 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Energy and Exergy Analyses of a PWR-Type Nuclear Power Plant Coupled with an ME-TVC-MED Desalination System

by Zakaria Triki, Rabah Menasri, Mohamed Najib Bouaziz, Hichem Tahraoui, Mohammed Kebir, Abdeltif Amrane, Jie Zhang and Lotfi Mouni

Sustainability 2023, 15(10), 8358; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15108358 - 21 May 2023

Viewed by 1434

Abstract

Electricity–water cogeneration power plants are an important tool for advancing sustainable water treatment technologies because they provide a cost-effective and environmentally friendly solution for meeting the energy and water needs of communities. By integrating power and water production, these technologies can reduce carbon emissions and help mitigate the impact of climate change. This work deals with the energy and exergy analysis of a cogeneration plant for electrical power generation and water desalination using real operational data. The power side is a pressurized water reactor (PWR) nuclear power plant (NPP), while the desalination side is a multi-effect distillation (MED) system with a thermo-vapor compressor (TVC) plant coupled with a conventional multi-effect plant (ME-TVC-MED). A mathematical model was implemented in MATLAB software and validated through a comparison with previously published research. The exergy analysis was carried out based on the second law of thermodynamics to evaluate the irreversibility of the plant and the subsystems. In this study, the components of the sub-systems were analyzed separately to identify and quantify the component that has a high loss of energy and exergy. According to the energy and exergy analyses, the highest source of irreversibility occurs in the reactor core with 50% of the total exergy destruction. However, turbines, steam generators, and condensers also contribute to energy loss. Further, the thermodynamic efficiency of the cogeneration plant was obtained as 35.38%, which is more effective than other systems. In the ME-TVC-MED desalination unit, the main sources of energy losses are located in the evaporators and the thermo-compressor (about 50% and 36%, respectively). Moreover, the exergetic efficiency of the ME-TVC-MED unit was found to be low at 6.43%, indicating a high degree of technical inefficiency in the desalination process. Therefore, many opportunities exist to improve the performance of the cogeneration system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Advanced Water Treatment Technologies)

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17 pages, 4070 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Cu/Polypyrrole-Coated Stainless Steel Mesh Membrane Cathode for Highly Efficient Electrocoagulation-Coupling Anti-Fouling Membrane Filtration

by Yuna Li, Zixin Hao, Jinglong Han, Yueyang Sun, Mengyao He, Yuang Yao, Fuhao Yang, Meijun Liu and Haifeng Zhang

Sustainability 2023, 15(2), 1107; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021107 - 6 Jan 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1327

Abstract

Membrane filtration fouling has become a significant issue that restricts its wide application. The electrocoagulation (EC) technique combines a variety of synergistic pollutant removal technologies (including flocculation, redox, and air flotation), which can be an ideal pretreatment process for membrane filtration. In this work, a novel Cu²⁺-doped and polypyrrole-coated stainless steel mesh membrane (Cu/PPy–SSM) was prepared by direct current electrodeposition, and it was introduced in an electrocoagulation-membrane reactor (ECMR) to construct an EC–membrane filtration coupling system. The Cu/PPy–SSM was applied as the cathode, while an aluminum plate was used as the anode in the ECMR. The ECMR enabled an excellent humic acid (HA) removal performance and could effectively mitigate the fouling of the Cu/PPy–SSM. Its performance can be attributed to the following: (1) the Cu/PPy–SSM can repel the negatively charged pollutants under the applied electric field; (2) the cathodic hydrogen gas produced on the Cu/PPy–SSM restrains the compacting of the cake layer and delays degradation of membrane flux; and (3) the resultant porous loose structure can perform as a dynamic membrane, which can effectively promote the separation performance of the Cu/PPy–SSM. The resultant ECMR enabled an improved HA removal rate of 92.77%, and the membrane-specific flux could be stabilized at more than 86%. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the operation parameters of the ECMR, and the predicted HA removal rate reached 93.01%. Both the experimental results and modelled predictions show that using the Cu/PPy–SSM as a cathode can lead to excellent performance of the ECMR. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Advanced Water Treatment Technologies)

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11 pages, 1389 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Exploring the Use of Tobacco Waste as a Metal Ion Adsorbent and Substrate for Sulphate-Reducing Bacteria during the Treatment of Acid Mine Drainage

by Hamlton Dovorogwa and Kevin Harding

Sustainability 2022, 14(21), 14333; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142114333 - 2 Nov 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1205

Abstract

Treatment of acid mine drainage (AMD) was successfully demonstrated using tobacco waste (dust and stem) as a metal cation adsorbent, pH modifier and carbon source for sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB). Synthetic and industrial AMD wastewaters were used in batch adsorption and SRB facilitated bioremediation experiments. Up to absorbent loading of 80 g/L, metal removal increased. However, increases above 160 g/L did not offer a proportional increase. At an adsorbent loading of 80 g/L, the highest metal removals of 38, 41, 31 and 43% for iron, nickel, copper and zinc respectively were achieved. The iron data fitted well to the Langmuir adsorption isotherm while the Sips adsorption isotherm better-described nickel, copper and zinc adsorption to tobacco waste. SRBs used were able to use tobacco waste as a carbon source while reducing sulphates to metal sulphides in acid mine drainage. In the presence of SRBs, metal removals by both adsorption and sulphide precipitation were 95, 97, 70 and 93% for iron, nickel, copper and zinc, respectively. Copper, however, demonstrated lower removal yields in both adsorption and bioremediation. Bioremediation improved acid mine drainage pH by 2.05 units. The exponential decay function could model both the metal and sulphate removal perfectly. It was concluded that tobacco waste can be confidently used as an adsorbent and carbon source for sulphate-reducing bacteria while facilitating AMD biological treatment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Advanced Water Treatment Technologies)

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9 pages, 1801 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

The Stability of U(VI) and As(V) under the Influence of pH and Inorganic Ligands

by Qingshan Tian, Peng Wang, Yunxiang Huang, Bo Zhang and Wentao Jiao

Sustainability 2022, 14(20), 12967; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142012967 - 11 Oct 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1030

Abstract

Uranium and arsenic are two pollutants commonly found in groundwater near uranium mines. However, the reactivity of U(VI) and As(V) need to be carefully investigated to better understand their fate and transport in the environment. In this study, the reactivity of U(VI) and As(V) were studied under various pH, bicarbonate, and Ca²⁺ levels. In air-equilibrated systems, the reactivity of U(VI) and As(V) generally decreased with the increase in pH, as evidenced by the solubility of U(VI) and As(V) increasing along with the elevation of pH. At pH = 8, 44.70% and 37.81% of initially added U(VI) and As(V) remained soluble. The addition of 1 mM of bicarbonate increased the reactivity of U(VI) and As(V) at mild acidic to neutral pH; however, the presence of bicarbonate significantly increased the solubility of U(VI) at mild alkaline condition, as nearly all U(VI) remained soluble at pH values of 8 and 9. After the addition of Ca²⁺, the solubility of both U(VI) and As(V) decreased at mild acidic to neutral pH ranges; however, the addition of Ca²⁺ markedly increased the soluble percentages of U(VI) at neutral pH, in which the condition 97.81 ± 2.95% of U(VI) remained soluble. Comparatively, only 36.13 ± 4.98% and 1.69 ± 1.08% of U(VI) were soluble at the same pH in air-equilibrated and bicarbonate systems. Our study demonstrated that U(VI) and As(V) are less reactive at neutral to alkaline conditions. Furthermore, the addition of bicarbonate and Ca²⁺ can further reduce the reactivity of U(VI) and As(V) at neutral to alkaline conditions. The findings of this study contribute to a deeper understanding of the fate and transport of U(VI) and As(V) in groundwater and could aid in better designing of U(VI) and As(V) removal processes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Advanced Water Treatment Technologies)

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17 pages, 3799 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Study on Phosphorus Removal Pathway in Constructed Wetlands with Thermally Modified Sepiolite

by Pan Gao and Chao Zhang

Sustainability 2022, 14(19), 12535; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912535 - 1 Oct 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1722

Abstract

Constructed wetlands, as natural sewage treatment ecosystems, have been widely used in the fields of rural domestic sewage and sewage plant tailwater treatment. However, the synchronous removal of phosphorus in most constructed wetlands is not ideal. This study aimed to prepare thermally modified sepiolites with high phosphorus adsorption capacities and design a constructed wetland based on them. Thermal modification was adopted to enhance the adsorption capacity of sepiolite based on its high specific surface area and ion exchange capacity. The physicochemical properties and adsorption performance of thermally modified sepiolite were studied. The results showed that the specific surface area and adsorption capacity of thermally modified sepiolite were higher than those of natural sepiolite, reaching 19.494 mg·g⁻¹. The concentration of effluent and the removal of constructed wetlands based on thermally modified sepiolite was 0.07 mg·g⁻¹ and 91.05%. An analysis of the phosphorus forms in constructed wetlands proved that the main phosphorus removal pathway is the adsorption of substrate, and the form of phosphorus was mainly Ca/Mg-P and Fe/Al-P. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Advanced Water Treatment Technologies)

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16 pages, 5762 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Polychlorinated Biphenyls Interactions with Water—Characterization Based on the Analysis of Non-Covalent Interactions and Energy Partitioning

by Kamil Wojtkowiak, Jarosław J. Panek and Aneta Jezierska

Sustainability 2022, 14(19), 12529; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912529 - 1 Oct 2022

Viewed by 1170

Abstract

Although polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been long banned from use, both they and dioxins are still considered persistent organic pollutants. The reason is twofold: their relative inertness (especially to oxidation) and their ability to accumulate in fat tissue. The current study sheds light on the interactions of PCBs with water, chlorine, and chlorine dioxide. Necessary insight is gained from Atoms in Molecules (AIM) and Non-Covalent Interactions (NCI) index and analyses for the 1:1 complexes of PCBs with water and chlorine (Cl

_{2}

) molecules. Further, Symmetry-Adapted Perturbation Theory (SAPT) calculations reveal the strength and nature of the intermolecular interactions, and the presence of halogen bonding is demonstrated in AIM, NCI, and SAPT studies. The stability of water, chlorine, and chlorine dioxide (ClO

_{2}

) complexes with PCBs is discussed using the supramolecular MP2 approach. Finally, analysis of microsolvation shells of PCBs showed the origins of the hydrophobicity and environmental persistence of these chemicals. Our results are applicable to the sustainability of water treatment strategies providing a description of forces and interactions at the molecular level. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Advanced Water Treatment Technologies)

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15 pages, 4313 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of pH Adjustment on the Release of Carbon Source of Particulate Organic Matter (POM) in Domestic Sewage

by Lei Zhu, Jiahou Hao, Houwei Lai and Guibai Li

Sustainability 2022, 14(13), 7746; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14137746 - 24 Jun 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1402

Abstract

The use of anaerobic hydrolytic fermentation to develop more available carbon sources from domestic sewage influent particulate organic matter (POM) has received increasing attention. However, the slow hydrolysis rate of POM limits the application of this technology. This study aimed to improve the carbon source release efficiency of POM by pH adjustment and to reveal the hydrolysis mechanism. Results showed that adjusting the initial pH of POM to 3, 9, and 11 enhanced carbon source release in the anaerobic hydrolysis fermentation process of POM. The pretreatment under pH value of 11 contributed to the highest yield and productivity of carbon source, reaching the soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) of 2782 mg/L at the 4th day. The pH 3 pretreatment was more beneficial for phosphorus resource recovery, which contributed to the highest release concentration of PO₄³⁻-P, reaching 48.2 mg/L at the 3rd day, accounting for 90% of TP. Microbial community structure analysis indicated that pH 11 preconditioning promoted the enrichment of proteolytic bacteria (Proteocatella and Proteiniclasticum) and polysaccharide hydrolytic bacteria (Trichococcus and Acinetobacter) and inhibited the growth of acetate-consuming methanogenic archaea, which contributed to the highest carbon release of POM in domestic sewage. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Advanced Water Treatment Technologies)

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20 pages, 3496 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Enhanced Nitrogen Removal in a Pilot-Scale Anoxic/Aerobic (A/O) Process Coupling PE Carrier and Nitrifying Bacteria PE Carrier: Performance and Microbial Shift

by Shengbo Gu, Leibin Liu, Xiaojie Zhuang, Jinsheng Qiu and Zhi Zhou

Sustainability 2022, 14(12), 7193; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14127193 - 12 Jun 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1560

Abstract

Integrated fixed-film activated sludge technology (IFAS) has a great advantage in improving nitrogen removal performance and increasing treatment capacity of municipal wastewater treatment plants with limited land for upgrading and reconstruction. This research aims at investigating the enhancing effects of polyethylene (PE) carrier and nitrifying bacteria PE (NBPE) carrier on nitrogen removal efficiency of an anoxic/aerobic (A/O) system from municipal wastewater and revealing temporal changes in microbial community evolution. A pilot-scale A/O system and a pilot-scale IFAS system were operated for nearly 200 days, respectively. Traditional PE and NBPE carriers were added to the IFAS system at different operating phases. Results showed that the treatment capacity of the IFAS system was enhanced by almost 50% and 100% by coupling the PE carrier and NBPE carrier, respectively. For the PE carrier, nitrifying bacteria abundance was maintained at 7.05%. In contrast, the nitrifying bacteria on the NBPE carrier was enriched from 6.66% to 23.17%, which could improve the nitrogen removal and treating capacity of the IFAS system. Finally, the ammonia efficiency of the IFAS system with NBPE carrier reached 73.0 ± 7.9% under 400% influent shock load and hydraulic retention time of 1.8 h. The study supplies a suitable nitrifying bacteria enrichment method that can be used to help enhance the nitrogen removal performance of municipal wastewater treatment plants. The study’s results advance the understanding of this enrichment method that effectively improves nitrogen removal and anti-resistance shock-load capacity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Advanced Water Treatment Technologies)

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Review

Jump to: Research

41 pages, 9412 KiB

Open AccessReview

Recent Advances in Capacitive Deionization: Research Progress and Application Prospects

by Meijun Liu, Mengyao He, Jinglong Han, Yueyang Sun, Hong Jiang, Zheng Li, Yuna Li and Haifeng Zhang

Sustainability 2022, 14(21), 14429; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142114429 - 3 Nov 2022

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 4458

Abstract

With the increasing global water shortage issue, the development of water desalination and wastewater recycling technology is particularly urgent. Capacitive deionization (CDI), as an emerging approach for water desalination and ion separation, has received extensive attention due to its high ion selectivity, high water recovery, and low energy consumption. To promote the further application of CDI technology, it is necessary to understand the latest research progress and application prospects. Here, considering electric double layers (EDLs) and two typical models, we conduct an in-depth discussion on the ion adsorption mechanism of CDI technology. Furthermore, we provide a comprehensive overview of recent advances in CDI technology optimization research, including optimization of cell architecture, electrode material design, and operating mode exploration. In addition, we summarize the development of CDI in past decades in novel application fields other than seawater desalination, mainly including ionic pollutant removal, recovery of resource-based substances such as lithium and nutrients, and development of coupling systems between CDI and other technologies. We then highlight the most serious challenges faced in the process of large-scale application of CDI. In the conclusion and outlook section, we focus on summarizing the overall development prospects of CDI technology, and we discuss the points that require special attention in future development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Advanced Water Treatment Technologies)

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