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        <title>Frontiers in Environmental Engineering | New and Recent Articles</title>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/environmental-engineering</link>
        <description>RSS Feed for Frontiers in Environmental Engineering | New and Recent Articles</description>
        <language>en-us</language>
        <generator>Frontiers Feed Generator,version:1</generator>
        <pubDate>2026-10-18T09:26:55.715+00:00</pubDate>
        <ttl>60</ttl>
        <item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1924831</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1924831</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Enhanced greywater treatment in a two-stage green wall system by incorporating waste-derived adsorbents]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-10-02T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Moeen Gholami</author><author>Aisling D. O’Sullivan</author><author>Yunkai Tan</author><author>Tianwei Hao</author><author>Hamish R. Mackey</author>
        <description><![CDATA[Greywater reuse offers a sustainable approach to alleviating freshwater scarcity, but concerns about treatment reliability limit its adoption. This study investigates a two-stage green wall system for greywater treatment, integrating vegetated units planted with Carex secta and vertical flow post-treatment columns (PTCs) packed with waste-derived adsorbents—calcinated kina (sea urchin) shell, ZnCl2-activated apricot stone biochar, and natural zeolite. The system’s performance was evaluated for removal of organic matter (COD, TOC), nutrients (ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, phosphate), and xenobiotics (anionic surfactants, aromatic compounds) under varying hydraulic and pollutant loads. Substrate characterization, plant health assessment, microbial analysis, and physicochemical water quality monitoring were used to elucidate plant–microbe–media interactions. PTCs effectively polished residual pollutants after partial removal in green wall units, achieving removal rates of 34% of phosphate, 99.8% of ammonia, 95% of surfactants, and 25%–37% of aromatic compounds (UV(294)). While nitrate leached from green wall units (−34%), PTCs mitigated this by removing 64% of nitrate. TOC and COD were further reduced by 17% and 14%, resulting in overall removal efficiencies of 95% and 96%, respectively, across the two-stage system. Under stress conditions of 2-week drying followed by high pollutant loading, PTCs maintained pollutant removal, whereas green wall units showed reduced nutrient removal. Across the planted green wall, ammonia increased from 0.02 to 1.63 mg/L and phosphate from 3.42 to 4.44 mg/L. The non-planted control deteriorated more strongly, with ammonia increasing to 8.88 mg/L and phosphate to 8.32 mg/L. After stress recovery, vegetated units rapidly regained treatment efficiency, while controls released ammonia tenfold and phosphate twofold. This novel integrated treatment design demonstrates a scalable, low-maintenance solution for effective on-site greywater treatment and reuse.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1981638</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1981638</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Correction: From CO2 capture to synthetic methane: the emerging role of dual functional materials]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-09-17T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Correction</category>
        <author>J. M. González Carballo</author><author>C. Gutiérrez</author>
        <description></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1948940</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1948940</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Transformation of 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonic acid in laccase-mediator systems]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-09-15T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Brief Research Report</category>
        <author>Umar Munir</author><author>Yifei Wang</author><author>Xi Zhu</author><author>Yuqing Ji</author><author>Mussie Y. Habteselassie</author><author>Andrea Squartini</author><author>Qingguo Huang</author>
        <description><![CDATA[6:2 Fluorotelomer sulfonic acid (FTS) has been used as an alternative to perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) as chrome mist suppressant in electroplating, emulsion aid in fluoropolymer processing, etc. Its biotic degradation is slow and incomplete, generating short chain perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) and it is frequently detected in the environment. This proof-of-concept study reports possible transformation of 6:2 FTS by enzyme-catalyzed oxidative humification reactions (ECOHRs) in laccase-mediator systems (LMS) using crude or purified laccases, either mediated by a synthetic chemical (1-hydroxybenzotriazole) or a natural organic material (soybean meal extract; SBMe). The LMS with crude laccase, SBMe and 10 mM CuSO4 exhibited a 23.8% reduction in concentration (mean of three technical replicates) relative to its control. A 34.8% reduction in adsorbable organic fluorine provided a supporting observation for transformation and potentially degradation. High-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) analysis unveiled a suite of tentative transformation products ranging from C8 to C3, including C3F7O3S, a previously unreported candidate formula for 6:2 FTS transformation products and potentially consistent with perfluoropropanesulfonate (PFPrS). Additionally, the calculated bond dissociation energies (BDEs) of the C-C bonds and the C-S bond in the 6:2 FTS were higher than those of PFOS, which could potentially explain the variable degradation observed in different studies. These findings underscore the potential of ECOHRs to transform per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) precursors. Future investigations into the transformation of PFAS mixtures in complex soil systems could provide actionable insights into ECOHRs as a potentially cost-effective remediation technique for vast crop lands, and pastures.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1857163</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1857163</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Large constructed treatment wetlands for decentralized wastewater treatment: an integrated decision-support framework for design, operation, and governance]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-09-10T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Anton Rossbach</author><author>José de Anda</author><author>Jörg Karl Janisch</author><author>Julius Fabian Müller</author><author>Oscar Aguilar Juárez</author>
        <description><![CDATA[IntroductionLarge treatment wetlands (TWs) can provide decentralized wastewater treatment at infrastructure scale, but successful implementation requires the integration of site conditions, wastewater characteristics, treatment-train design, operation, financing, and governance across the project lifecycle.MethodsWe developed an integrated decision-support framework based on a structured qualitative evidence synthesis and a comparative assessment of 64 large-scale TW projects. Project-level data were extracted on location, wastewater source, inflow, population equivalent, wetland area and type, treatment train, vegetation, pretreatment, post-treatment, conventional pollutant removal, data limitations, and special design or operational features. Projects were grouped into 18 configuration categories. Evidence on emerging contaminants was synthesized separately at the compound-group level.ResultsStaged vertical-flow/horizontal-flow systems and pretreated vertical-flow systems showed strong removal performance for BOD5, COD, TSS/SS, nitrogen indicators, and total phosphorus when supported by adequate pretreatment, hydraulic distribution, monitoring, and operation and maintenance. Performance varied with influent strength, treatment objective, system configuration, pollutant-specific data availability, and evidence quality. Micropollutant attenuation was promising but compound-specific and depended on media selection, redox zoning, hydraulic retention time, vegetation, sorption capacity, and multi-barrier design. The resulting matrix links six framework dimensions to key decisions, indicators, red flags, planning outputs, readiness levels, and no-go risks.DiscussionLarge TWs should be planned as governable, adaptive, and multifunctional public infrastructure. The framework provides implementation-oriented support for early project screening, treatment-train selection, governance design, and long-term decentralized water management.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1839957</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1839957</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Green machine learning assisted analytics for wastewater valorisation: a case study of Melbourne, Australia]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-09-08T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Biswajit Debnath</author><author>Ranjan Sasti Charan Pal</author><author>Amit K. Chattopadhyay</author>
        <description><![CDATA[Wastewater valorisation inherently benefits from predictive models that are accurate, generic, robust and environmentally sustainable. Benchmarked on a publicly available municipal wastewater dataset from Melbourne, Australia, characterised by temporal variability and multivariate complexity, we present a Green Machine Learning (GML) framework to predict Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Total Nitrogen (TN), two variables directly linked to carbon and nutrient recovery pathways. Four widely used machine learning and deep learning models - FFNN, RNN, CNN, and XGBoost - were benchmarked to identify the most optimised approach, defined here as the model providing the best overall balance between predictive accuracy, generalisation, and computational environmental cost rather than the highest training performance alone. XGBoost and RNN emerged as the most optimised algorithmic pathways. RNN captured the temporal behaviour most effectively for COD, achieving an R2 of 0.71 and an RMSE of 75.55 mg/L, while XGBoost showed the strongest generalisation, with validation/test R2 values of 0.72/0/71, respectively. For TN, XGBoost was the best-performing model, with validation/test R2 = 0.59/0.63, outperforming RNN (0.56/0.53) and the other neural architectures. Sustainability analysis using CodeCarbon showed that XGBoost required only 0.000018 kWh and emitted 0.0000129 kg CO2-eq for COD, compared to 0.001490 kWh and 0.001063 kg CO2-eq for RNN; for TN, XGBoost consumed 0.000028 kWh, compared to 0.002563 kWh for RNN. These results conclusively show that XGBoost delivers comparable or better predictions at 98%–99% lower computational carbon cost, while RNN remains the strongest neural network candidate for COD-related dynamics.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1886265</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1886265</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Microbial electrochemical systems for bio-solar energy conversion: recent advances, interfaces, future challenges]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-09-04T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Mini Review</category>
        <author>Rajani Bansode</author><author>Mukta Patil</author><author>Vidya Karande</author>
        <description><![CDATA[Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are bioelectrochemical structures that rely on microbial activity to transform chemical energy contained in organic substrates into electrical power. Solar-assisted MFCs enhance this concept by combining light-driven processes with microbial catalysis to increase energy harvesting and expand the functional range of traditional MFC-based systems. This review highlights solar-assisted MFCs and related hybrid configurations, including microbial solar cells, Biophotovoltaics systems, MFCs with photobioanodes, microscale MFCs using ultraelectrodes, intimately coupled photobiocatalysis, and dye-sensitized solar cell-based platforms. Recent developments in hybrid bio-solar interface engineering, electrode design, membrane selection, and system integration are compiled in this mini-review. Along with highlighting future research directions towards more sustainable solar-assisted bioelectrochemical energy conversion systems, it also identifies the main challenges limiting performance, stability, and scalability.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1945870</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1945870</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Valorisation of banana peel waste for copper (II) and chromium (VI) biosorption from aqueous solution: classical and fractal-like kinetics and isotherms model analysis]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-09-03T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Sthembile Mzimela</author><author>Babatunde Femi Bakare</author><author>Paul Musonge</author><author>Siphesihle Mangena Khumalo</author>
        <description><![CDATA[Heavy metal contamination of aquatic systems poses significant environmental and public health risks, necessitating cost-effective remediation strategies. However, mechanistic understanding of metal uptake on heterogeneous bioolymeric surfaces remains limited. This study investigates the biosorption of chromium(VI) (Cr6+) and copper(II) (Cu2+) onto banana peel (BP)-derived biosorbent within a circular-economy framework. Batch biosorption experiments were conducted across a range of initial metal concentrations using BP-derived biosorbent. Classical and fractal-like pseudo-first-order (PFO) kinetic models, alongside Langmuir, Freundlich, and Langmuir-Freundlich isotherm models, were applied to experimental data to elucidate rate mechanisms and surface heterogeneity effects. PFO kinetics yielded strong fits for both metals (R2 = 0.9930, Cr6+; R2 = 0.9776, Cu2+; χ2 < 0.1), with equilibrium adsorption capacities of 2.5664 mg/g and 12.053 mg/g, respectively. Fractal-like PFO models further improved predictions (R2 = 0.9960, Cr6+), with heterogeneity parameters h = 0.8483 (Cr6+) and h = 0.1401 (Cu2+), confirming diffusion-controlled pathways. The Langmuir-Freundlich model achieved the best overall isotherm fit (R2 = 0.9817, Cr6+; R2 = 0.9212, Cu2+), with Langmuir monolayer capacities of 11.3853 mg/g (Cr6+) and 13.5136 mg/g (Cu2+). The Freundlich parameter nF < 1 confirmed favourable, heterogeneous adsorption for both systems. The contrasting h values reveal mechanistically distinct sorption pathways for Cr6+ and Cu2+ on the heterogeneous BP surface. Integrating fractal kinetics with hybrid isotherm models provides deeper mechanistic insight than classical approaches alone, confirming BP waste as a promising, low-cost biosorbent for heavy-metal remediation.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1911579</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1911579</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Non-target analysis for wastewater treatment evaluation: strategies, applications, and future directions]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-09-03T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Review</category>
        <author>Isra Koko</author><author>Fares AlMomani</author><author>Muhammad Zia UR Rahman Hashmi</author><author>Sophia Ghanimeh</author>
        <description><![CDATA[Non-target analysis (NTA), based on high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), is increasingly used to characterize the complex chemical composition of wastewater and evaluate the fate of emerging contaminants (EC) during treatment. However, despite its growing application, the use of NTA for wastewater treatment evaluation remains fragmented across the literature, with existing reviews focusing primarily on analytical workflows, contaminant identification, or environmental monitoring rather than treatment performance assessment. This review addresses this gap by providing a comprehensive synthesis of NTA as a framework for evaluating wastewater treatment processes. The principal NTA-based evaluation strategies reported in the literature are consolidated and classified, including assessment of changes in chemical complexity, investigation of contaminant fate throughout treatment trains, and analysis of shifts in physicochemical characteristics inferred from molecular information. Also, the review examines the wastewater-specific NTA workflow and synthesizes emerging themes across recent studies. Particular emphasis is placed on how these approaches can be translated into engineering-relevant metrics for assessing treatment efficiency and evaluating residual chemical risks. By bridging analytical chemistry and wastewater engineering perspectives, this review demonstrates how NTA can move beyond contaminant discovery to support technology comparison, process optimization, and risk-informed decision-making, while highlighting key challenges and research priorities for its broader implementation in wastewater treatment assessment.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1881554</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1881554</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Cycle-resolved dynamic modeling of atmospheric CO2 separation systems under time-varying ambient and electricity conditions]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-09-01T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Keju An</author><author>Dylan Wald</author><author>Kejun Chen</author><author>Ryan King</author>
        <description><![CDATA[Atmospheric CO2 separation using solid-sorbent adsorption systems is strongly influenced by ambient temperature and humidity, which vary over hourly and seasonal timescales. However, detailed cyclic adsorption models that resolve adsorption-desorption dynamics are computationally intensive, limiting their application to long-term, ambient condition-resolved analysis and system-scale optimization. In this work, we develop a physics-informed dynamic reduced-order model (ROM) for a solid-sorbent temperature-vacuum swing adsorption system. The model retains the dominant physical mechanisms governing cyclic operation, including CO2-H2O co-adsorption, adsorption–desorption kinetics, incomplete regeneration, and cycle-to-cycle sorbent-state memory. It is formulated as a computationally efficient, control-oriented state-transition model rather than an equipment-level representation of a specific Direct air capture plant. Using this framework, approximately 120,000 cycle-resolved simulations are generated across environmental conditions, initial sorbent states, system designs, and operating strategies. The resulting dataset reveals a structured performance landscape and supports the development of a neural-network surrogate for rapid cyclic prediction and optimization. Results demonstrate that system performance is highly sensitive to environmental variability and that cycle-resolved optimization under time-varying conditions can simultaneously reduce energy demand and improve CO2 productivity compared with fixed operating strategies. Overall, this work presents a scalable physics-to-surrogate workflow that links adsorption physics, reduced-order dynamic modeling, and neural-network-assisted optimization for atmospheric CO2 separation systems operating under realistic environmental variability.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1925304</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1925304</link>
        <title><![CDATA[From CO2 capture to synthetic methane: the emerging role of dual functional materials]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-08-24T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Perspective</category>
        <author>J. M. González Carballo</author><author>C. Gutiérrez</author>
        <description><![CDATA[The increasing urgency of mitigating anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions while expanding the production of sustainable fuels has fueled growing interest in integrated carbon capture and utilization (ICCU) technologies. Dual functional materials (DFMs), combining CO2 adsorption and catalytic conversion functionalities within a single material, have emerged as a promising process-intensification strategy. By enabling direct capture of CO2 streams and subsequent hydrogenation to synthetic methane (CH4) in the same reactor, DFMs offer a pathway to reduce energy penalties associated with conventional capture–transport–conversion schemes while facilitating the storage of renewable energy. This perspective examines the evolution of DFM design for integrated CO2 capture and methanation, highlighting key advances in sorbent–catalyst architectures, mechanistic understanding, and reactor operation strategies. Particular attention is given to the complex interplay between CO2 adsorption, surface intermediate formation, hydrogen activation, and methane production, which governs overall performance. Despite significant progress, several challenges remain, including maintaining long-term stability under realistic flue gas conditions, improving methane productivity at low CO2 concentrations, managing heat and mass transfer limitations, and establishing scalable synthesis routes. Advances in multifunctional material design, data-driven design and optimization, and integration with renewable hydrogen sources are expected to accelerate the deployment of DFM-based methanation systems. In particular, data-driven approaches can potentially provide new opportunities to identify optimal combinations of adsorption and catalytic functionalities while significantly reducing experimental trial-and-error efforts. By outlining current opportunities and future research directions, this perspective aims to provide a framework for developing next-generation DFMs capable of bridging carbon capture and sustainable fuel production in a circular carbon economy.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1945148</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1945148</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Catalytic strategies for sustainable and efficient textile processing: a review]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-08-19T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Review</category>
        <author>Sheetal Kumari</author><author>Jyoti Chowdhry</author>
        <description><![CDATA[The textile industry is one of the most resource-intensive industries, using vast amounts of water, energy and chemicals, and producing huge volumes of wastewater and greenhouse gas emissions. Traditional textile processing is energy demanding and involves harsh chemical treatments, which cause serious environmental problems. Catalysis has become an effective way to improve process efficiency, with a reduction of chemical consumption, energy demand and pollutant creation. This review emphasizes the latest breakthroughs in the areas of heterogeneous catalysis, photocatalysis, and advanced oxidation processes for sustainable textile manufacturing in terms of their uses in pretreatment, dying, finishing, and wastewater treatment. It also discusses recent advances in catalyst regeneration, immobilized enzymes, magnetic catalysts, and recyclable catalytic systems that enable circular textile production. Unlike previous evaluations mainly focusing on wastewater treatment, this review gives a holistic assessment of catalytic technologies along the full textile value chain.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1896450</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1896450</link>
        <title><![CDATA[An analysis on the fate of PFAS in still bottoms during electrochemical oxidation with a Ti4O7 anode]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-08-03T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Yifei Wang</author><author>Yuqing Ji</author><author>Ujjwal Ghimire</author><author>Balaji Rao</author><author>Danny Reible</author><author>Yongsheng Chen</author><author>Qingguo Huang</author>
        <description><![CDATA[Most previous studies on the degradation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) by destruction technologies, such as electrochemical oxidation (EO), focused on the transformation of target PFASs, while a more complete analysis is necessary to verify PFAS mineralization and understand the pathways. This work attempts to analyze the fate of PFASs during EO treatment of still bottoms (SB), a concentrated waste stream resulting from ion exchange resin (IXR) treatment of PFAS-contaminated groundwater. The EO treatment is performed with a Ti4O7 anode in a closed reactor in an attempt to analyze all products, including (1) their distribution in solid, liquid, and gas phases, (2) the fate of fluorine by quantifying both fluoride and total organic fluorine (TOF), and (3) semi-quantification of nontarget PFAS by high-resolution mass spectrometry. The results reveal that PFAS accounted for only 33% TOF in the original SB, with target PFAS responsible for merely 34% TOF removal by EO treatment, following which target and nontarget PFAS account for almost all TOF. Data suggest that most unaccounted TOF in the original SB was likely due to undetected PFAS masked by microplastics. Additionally, fluoropolymers may also be responsible. Most fluorine released from PFAS during EO treatment was recovered from the anode and precipitate. The study highlights challenges in tracking the fate of fluorine in destructive treatment of PFAS, especially regarding capturing volatile products in the context of complex environmental samples, while it showcases the capabilities of EO treatment in breaking down target and nontarget PFAS and their precursors.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1878655</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1878655</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Evaluation of porous polyethylene-supported zeolite carriers to support feammox-based perfluorooctanoic acid biotransformation]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-07-31T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Brief Research Report</category>
        <author>McKenzie C. Pearson</author><author>Paige J. Novak</author><author>Shan Huang</author><author>Peter R. Jaffé</author><author>Marc A. Hillmyer</author><author>William A. Arnold</author>
        <description><![CDATA[Traditional treatment methods for removal of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) from water are costly and often generate secondary waste, prompting interest in biological alternatives. Acidimicrobium sp. Strain A6 (A6) conducts feammox, or anaerobic ferric iron reduction paired with ammonium oxidation. These bacteria have been shown to defluorinate perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) under acidic, anoxic conditions. Its practical application, however, is limited by slow growth, sensitivity to environmental conditions, and specific nutrient requirements. This study explored the potential of porous polyethylene-supported zeolite (PEZ) carriers as a nutrient-integrated support system intended to promote A6 growth and PFOA biotransformation. It was hypothesized that the carrier would provide both ammonium and ferric iron to localize A6 bacteria growth and PFOA degradation. Iron-enhanced PEZ carriers were successfully synthesized and exhibited ammonium sorption capacities greater than normal PEZ, confirming their suitability for feammox nutrient delivery. Four unique culture environments were tested in batch incubation experiments spiked with 10 mg/L (24 μM) PFOA, and degradation was monitored over 100 days. Incubations revealed no significant differences in ammonium removal or A6 growth between cultures with carriers and controls, and no PFOA removal was observed, even in the positive control. A6 was detectable on PEZ carriers (103 copies/carrier) at the end of the incubations, suggesting that these carriers provided localized microenvironments supportive of A6 retention, though insufficient for measurable feammox activity or PFOA defluorination, which limits assessment of the carrier design. The minimal activity observed may be attributed to low initial A6 concentrations, a suboptimal iron phase/limited availability of iron, or the presence of other bacteria outcompeting A6. This study indicates that PEZ carriers have potential to support the maintenance of A6 in engineered systems even though no clear support of feammox metabolism or PFOA degradation was observed and outlines parameters that require further optimization to improve anaerobic PFAS biotransformation.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1844952</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1844952</link>
        <title><![CDATA[From lab to ledger: a sequential policy framework for de-risking biotechnological investments in environmental sustainability]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-07-29T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Perspective</category>
        <author>Jamiu Adeniyi Yusuf</author><author>Ibrahim Ayodele Yusuf</author>
        <description><![CDATA[BackgroundWhile biotechnological innovations offer transformative solutions for environmental sustainability, they frequently fail to transition from laboratory “practices” to commercial “prospects” due to significant economic barriers. This “Valley of Death” is characterized by high technical uncertainty and a lack of specialized financial instruments.Objective/methodsThis Perspective proposes a Sequential Gate Framework designed to align policy incentives with the specific risk profiles of the biotechnological lifecycle. By categorizing development into three distinct stages R&D, Demonstration, and Market Entry, we identify the precise economic hurdles that deter private capital.Results/discussionWe argue that “one-size-fits-all” funding is ineffective. Instead, a targeted sequence of interventions is required: direct subsidies for fundamental R&D, Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) and first-loss guarantees for scaling pilot plants, and Contracts for Difference (CfD) to ensure market competitiveness against fossil-fuel incumbents. Furthermore, the integration of Digital Twins and AI is highlighted as an immediate, cutting-edge catalyst for reducing information asymmetry between biotechnologists and institutional investors.ConclusionBridging the gap between biological potential and economic reality requires a synchronized institutional response. By adopting this sequential de-risking roadmap, policymakers can foster a resilient circular bioeconomy, ensuring that biotechnological advancements achieve the industrial scale necessary to address global environmental crises.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1907166</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1907166</link>
        <title><![CDATA[MOF-based catalytic systems for PFAS degradation: mechanisms, composite design and future challenges]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-07-22T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Review</category>
        <author>Muhammad Haris Khan</author><author>Usman Ejaz</author><author>Saba Sharafat</author><author>Muhammad Hamza Khan</author>
        <description><![CDATA[Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) represent one of the most persistent classes of environmental contaminants, their exceptional carbon–fluorine bond strength rendering them recalcitrant to conventional treatment technologies. Metal organic frameworks (MOFs), with their precisely engineered pore architectures, tunable surface chemistry, and multifunctional active sites, have emerged as transformative platforms for both adsorptive capture and catalytic degradation of PFAS. This review provides a comprehensive and critical analysis of MOF-based catalytic systems for PFAS degradation, encompassing photocatalytic, Fenton-like, reductive, and synergistic mechanisms. The roles of metal node identity, organic linker design, and pore geometry in governing degradation pathways are systematically examined. The review further evaluates composite strategies including MOF@metal oxide heterojunctions, MOF@carbon hybrids and bi- and tri-metallic MOF architectures that extend light absorption, enhance charge carrier separation, and improve structural stability under realistic environmental conditions. Particular emphasis is placed on quantifying the performance gap between these multifunctional composites, pristine single-metal MOFs, and commercial adsorbents. This gap is assessed using defluorination and mineralization rather than parent-compound removal. On this basis, the review identifies the polymetallic and reductive strategies most likely to overcome the persistent short-chain PFAS bottleneck. Key operational parameters including pH, light intensity, co-existing ions, PFAS chain length and catalyst dosage are critically evaluated. Current challenges including water instability, low mineralization efficiency, metal leaching, and insufficient short-chain PFAS removal are identified and forward-looking research priorities are proposed, including AI-guided framework design, continuous-flow reactor engineering, and electrocatalytic coupling strategies. This work establishes a comprehensive framework for the rational design of next-generation MOF-based systems targeting complete PFAS mineralization.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1882143</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1882143</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Assessing lagoon plume dispersion under variable metocean conditions]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-07-16T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Mattia Scovenna</author><author>Giovanni Besio</author>
        <description><![CDATA[Coastal lagoons are ecologically sensitive environments that are highly vulnerable to anthropogenic pressures and pollutant dispersal. Understanding how pollutants move within these systems lays the groundwork for managing water quality and mitigating the risks associated with pollution events. In this study, we investigate the dispersion of floating virtual particles released near a sewage outfall in the Narta Lagoon, Albania, using Lagrangian particle tracking under six weekly meteo-oceanographic (metocean) scenarios. Two release configurations are analyzed: a single (instantaneous) release and a continuous (periodic) release. Our results demonstrate that plume dispersion is significantly influenced by hydrodynamic conditions, with advective flow playing a dominant role in determining plume behavior. In some scenarios, dispersion is sensitive to release timing, with particles either remaining close to the release area or being more uniformly dispersed across the lagoon. Exposure maps highlight boundary accumulation zones, while dispersion descriptors reveal contrasting mixing patterns between scenarios. These findings provide new insight into the transport and retention dynamics that govern floating-particle behavior in the Narta Lagoon, underscoring the importance of properly managing the two inlets.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1867033</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1867033</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Small organic molecules through biomass valorization: sustainable routes and applications]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-07-07T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Review</category>
        <author>Sushmita Bhatia</author><author>Shruti Rai Bhardwaj</author><author>Ram Singh</author>
        <description><![CDATA[Historically, the process of preparing complex organic compounds has relied on non-sustainable, petroleum-based raw materials. The present review aims to explore the trend towards using biomass feedstocks, such as lignocellulose, carbohydrates, and bio-waste, as sustainable sources for the synthesis of organic molecules. These biomasses are used to generate platform compounds such as furfural, levulinic acid, glycerol, succinic acid, and sorbitol, etc. Furthermore, these platform molecules are used as building blocks to produce various value-added products. Recent developments in catalytic reactions and greener methods of activation, such as photocatalysis, microwave-assisted synthesis, and grindstone chemistry, to use platform molecules, have also been discussed. Such advancements have enabled the synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients and other heterocyclic compounds. The use of biomass valorization contributed in minimization of waste, wastewater, effluents, and hazardous emissions compared to petroleum-based raw materials. These achievements will contribute to implementing the transition towards circular economy approaches, to produce bulk chemicals from biomass.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1890725</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1890725</link>
        <title><![CDATA[From biowaste to biochar: sustainable pathways for waste valorization, environmental benefits, and practical uses]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-07-01T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Review</category>
        <author>Yogesh Kumar</author>
        <description><![CDATA[Biowaste generation has increased rapidly due to urbanization, industrialization, population growth, and agricultural activities. Large amounts of agricultural residues, food waste, forestry waste, animal manure, and municipal organic waste are produced worldwide, creating serious environmental and public health problems. Traditional disposal methods, such as landfilling and open burning, release greenhouse gases, toxic pollutants, and harmful leachates that contribute to climate change and environmental degradation. Sustainable waste valorization has therefore gained significant attention as an eco-friendly approach for converting waste into useful products such as biofuels, bioenergy, fertilizers, and biochar. Among these, biochar has emerged as an important carbon-rich material produced through thermochemical conversion of biomass under limited oxygen conditions. Biochar possesses high porosity, large surface area, and excellent adsorption capacity, making it useful for soil improvement, carbon sequestration, wastewater treatment, and greenhouse gas mitigation. Biomass composition and pyrolysis conditions strongly influence biochar properties and performance. Biochar also supports circular bioeconomy principles by promoting waste recycling, renewable energy generation, and sustainable resource management. Overall, biochar production from biomass waste offers a sustainable solution for environmental protection, climate resilience, and long-term agricultural and industrial development. Future biochar systems integrating artificial intelligence, advanced pyrolysis, circular bioeconomy principles, and carbon markets could enable scalable carbon-negative technologies, transforming waste into valuable resources while accelerating global climate neutrality and sustainability goals.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1873258</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1873258</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Exploring water hardness removal potential of halotolerant bacteria isolated and characterized from brine lemon pickle]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-07-01T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Shivani Chauhan</author><author>Simranpreet Kaur</author><author>Sundeep Kaur</author><author>Sumer Singh Meena</author><author>Anee Mohanty</author>
        <description><![CDATA[IntroductionHalotolerant microorganisms capable of thriving in high salt concentrations are of significant interest due to their ecological roles and potential industrial applications. This study aimed to isolate and characterize a halotolerant bacterial strain from a traditional fermented food source.MethodsA bacterial strain designated SS1 was isolated from brine lemon pickle. The isolate was characterized using morphological and biochemical tests, antibiotic susceptibility profiling, and 16S rDNA sequencing. Growth was assessed across varying NaCl concentrations, and biofilm formation was evaluated under high-salt conditions. The strain’s potential application in hard water treatment was also examined.ResultsThe isolate was Gram-positive, coccoid, and showed remarkable tolerance to salt, growing at NaCl concentrations up to 20%, with optimal growth between 0% and 10% (doubling time 25–35 min). The colonies on agar were cream-coloured, circular, glistering, and entire-edged. Based on morphological attributes and biochemical characterization, the isolate exhibited characteristics consistent with those of the Staphylococcus genus. Partial sequencing of 16s rDNA also revealed that strain SS1 was similar to Staphylococcus gallinarum. The strain exhibited susceptibility to all tested antibiotics except cefonicid and cloxacillin. Biofilm formation was observed only at a high NaCl concentration (20%). The isolated strain treated hard water and showed a 45% hardness removal efficiency on the 15th day.DiscussionWith its unique halotolerant and biochemical profile, strain SS1 presents promising potential for future exploration and application in environmental remediation, hard water treatment, and other industries.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1908453</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenve.2026.1908453</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Editorial: Environmental engineering perspectives on ocean-based carbon dioxide removal]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-07-01T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Editorial</category>
        <author>Michael B. Fong</author><author>Maribel I. García-Ibáñez</author><author>Xinyu Li</author>
        <description></description>
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