Water scarcity and pollution are critical 21st-century challenges intensified by industrialization and population growth. Conventional wastewater treatments struggle with high costs, energy demands, and inefficiency against emerging contaminants (e.g., pharmaceuticals, microplastics). Adsorption processes offer a versatile, efficient alternative—yet their sustainability hinges on eco-friendly synthesis, regeneration, and reuse of adsorbents. This underscores an urgent need for innovative materials that balance high performance, environmental safety, and economic viability.

This Research Topic tackles the optimization of adsorbent synthesis to close the gap between lab innovation and real-world implementation. We seek advances in high-performance materials with enhanced selectivity, capacity, and regenerability, while minimizing environmental footprints and costs. Key challenges include:

• Identifying abundant, renewable precursors (e.g., biowaste, minerals).

• Streamlining synthesis for reduced energy/chemical use.

• Designing materials for broad-spectrum pollutant removal.

We encourage collaboration among material scientists, chemists, environmental engineers, and industry partners to foster holistic solutions that prioritize scalability, sustainability, and circularity in wastewater treatment.

We invite Original Research, Reviews, Mini-Reviews, and Perspectives addressing:

• Novel adsorbent design (bio-based, nanostructured, hybrid materials).

• Waste derived adsorbents (biochars etc.)

• Green synthesis routes (low-energy, solvent-free, waste-derived precursors).

• Regeneration, reuse, and circular-economy strategies.

• Sustainability metrics: Life cycle assessment (LCA) and techno-economic analysis.

• Real-world applications: Case studies in industrial/municipal wastewater treatment.

Submissions should bridge fundamental research and applied solutions, offering interdisciplinary insights into scalable, sustainable wastewater treatment.

Are you interested in contributing a manuscript to this Research Topic?

Optimizing Adsorbent Synthesis for Sustainable Wastewater Treatment