Rapid and sequential removal of polyphenols and heavy metals from water by zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67)

Potentiometric electrodes for total dissolved solids: Universal ion response from crosslinked polymer membranes.

L-Cysteine boosts Fe2+/Fe3+ cycling in Fe-doped cellulose-derived hydrothermal carbonation carbon for enhanced peroxydisulfate activation and diclofenac degradation.

Tuning pyrolysis temperature of wheat straw biochar supports for enhanced Bi2WO6 photocatalytic degradation of stormwater contaminants in real water matrices.

Microfluidic Dean-flow enhanced electrochemical detection of lead in water.

Carboxyl-rich carbon triggers radical-dominated oxidation in the Cr(VI)/S(IV) system via ligand-exchange and interfacial electron transfer.

Study on the efficient removal of pollutants from aquatic environments using electroactivated peracetic acid: Unveiling the formation pathway of CH3C(O)O• on the cathode surface.

Mechanochemical biochar enables electron-transfer-mediated ferrate(VI) activation for enhanced micropollutant degradation.

Fabricating tubular Ti4O7 ceramic membrane for integrated filtration and electro-oxidation of pesticides in complex water matrices

Synergy and primacy of crystal morphology and crystalline phase: Driving efficient peroxymonosulfate activation by CoSe2.

Hierarchical excitation-emission matrix (EEM) decomposition: Relaxed implementation of Kasha's rule to enhance resolution.

Peroxymonosulfate activation by NiCoFe-layered double hydroxides for enhancing contaminant elimination in water.

Highly sensitive superhydrophobic SERS substrate combined with machine learning for precise identification and classification of nanoplastics.

Capturing nanoplastics through a collagen fibrous membrane with hierarchical functional surfaces.

Competitive adsorption of PFAS on granulated activated carbon and ion exchange resins: Effects of co-existing PFASs, DOM, and phosphate.

This study fabricated a novel bifunctional bamboo-derived ZnFe-BC cathode to enhance pollutant degradation in the electro-Fenton process. The prepared cathode exhibited a well-developed porous morphology, a high specific surface area, and abundant active sites originating from iron silicate species. These features enabled high electro-Fenton performance, characterized by sustained H2O2 activation and significantly enhanced generation of reactive oxygen species, thereby achieving highly efficient pollutant degradation. Specifically, the cathode delivered an H2O2 yield of 13.8 mg L-1 and removed 95.4% of tetracycline (20 mg L-1) within 120 min. The Zn/Fe codoping strategy applied in cathode preparation increased the specific surface area, generated abundant active sites, and induced numerous oxygen vacancies (Ov), which contributed to the enhanced cathodic performance in the electro-Fenton process. Mechanistic studies revealed that superoxide radicals (O2•-) served as a key intermediate in the two-electron oxygen reduction pathway for H2O2 production, whereas hydroxyl radicals (OH•) acted as the predominant reactive oxygen species responsible for pollutant degradation. Furthermore, the prepared ZnFe-BC cathode demonstrated high stability and reusability even in real complex water matrices, with a degradation efficiency of over 85% and maintained a degradation efficiency of 90% after five consecutive reuse cycles. This work highlights the critical role of bimetallic doping in improving the structural stability and catalytic efficiency of cathodes in the electro-Fenton, providing a promising and sustainable strategy for designing robust biomass-derived bifunctional materials for wastewater treatment.

Sludge-derived biochar-supported Mg-Fe-LDH composite enabling singlet oxygen-dominated methylhydrazine degradation.

Single-atom catalysts (SACs) present distinctive opportunities for environmental catalysis, not simply by maximizing atom utilization, but by enabling function-oriented control over heterogeneous interfacial chemistry in complex and fluctuating water matrices. In practical water purification, their catalytic value lies less in intrinsic activity alone than in their capacity to deliver selective reactivity, tolerance to matrix interference, durability, and system compatibility under realistic operating conditions. This review therefore develops a unified framework that links atomic-level SAC design to the key functional demands of water purification, including reactive-species pathway regulation, pollutant-oriented site design, resistance to deactivation and matrix interference, and system sustainability and compatibility. From this perspective, SACs are discussed as a platform for addressing the growing challenges of selective pollutant removal in interferent-rich waters via site-specific control of reactive species, interfacial microenvironments, and oxidant generation. Waste-derived SACs are further considered as a material-level extension of this concept toward environmental homology, circularity, and deployment-relevant design. By surveying waste-derived supports, metal sources, and fully coderived systems, we illustrate how catalyst synthesis can be coupled with waste management to advance closed-loop remediation. Finally, we outline future directions toward intelligent and adaptive environmental catalysis, where data-driven design and automation may accelerate multiobjective optimization across materials, interfaces, and reactors. More broadly, this Review positions SACs as a conceptual and materials platform for selective, robust, and sustainable water-treatment technologies.

Efficient elimination of emerging contaminants (ECs) from complex water matrices remains a challenge for peroxymonosulfate (PMS)-based advanced oxidation processes, which typically require high PMS dosages and suffer from poor oxidant utilization. Here, we report a Fenton-like flow reactor (FFR) composed of stacked layers of immobilized catalysts (Co-carbon nanotube/carbon fiber, Co-CNT/CF). Unlike conventional PMS-activating batch reactors, the FFR harnesses in situ-generated concentration and potential gradients to induce a spontaneous galvanic effect (GE). This macroscale GE enables self-sustained PMS activation, dissolved oxygen reduction, and radical generation without external energy input, thereby overcoming mass transfer limitations inherent to batch reactors. Additionally, it endows the FFR with exceptional adaptability under a wide range of EC concentration, salinity, natural organic matter (NOM), and pH. Notably, increasing wastewater conductivity boosted the treatment capacity by several times, achieving the removal of nearly 100% ECs at a flux rate >1000 mL min-1. Furthermore, the enhanced microcosmic charge transfer at the catalyst/wastewater interface enabled extremely low PMS usage (≤0.08 mM) and high utilization efficiency (77.5-96.3%). This work introduces a gradient-driven, galvanic-enabled PMS activation pathway that establishes a new design paradigm for cost-effective and energy-saving continuous-flow water purification technologies.

Oxalic acid-assisted, metal-free light-driven activation of sodium percarbonate on kaolinite for tetracycline degradation in water: Kinetic, mechanistic, and toxicological insights.