Membrane Technologies for Emerging Contaminants: Materials, Mechanisms, and Process Integration

Emerging contaminants - including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), pharmaceuticals, personal care products, endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs), and other persistent pollutants-pose a growing challenge for water and wastewater treatment. Their chemical diversity, low concentrations, and resistance to conventional treatment processes demand advanced and adaptable solutions. Membrane technologies have emerged as a key platform for addressing these challenges, offering tunable selectivity, modularity, and compatibility with hybrid treatment systems.

This Research Topic focuses on the development, evaluation, and application of membrane-based technologies for the removal and control of emerging contaminants in aqueous systems. Emphasis is placed on understanding separation mechanisms, improving selectivity and permeability, mitigating fouling, and benchmarking membrane performance against current state-of-the-art approaches. Contributions exploring the integration of membrane processes into treatment trains, as well as their scalability, energy efficiency, and lifecycle implications, are particularly encouraged.

Submissions should demonstrate clear relevance to membrane science and engineering, with a focus on practical application and performance validation. Studies centered solely on contaminant occurrence, monitoring, or risk assessment without a membrane component are outside the scope.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

Membrane removal mechanisms for emerging contaminants (e.g., size exclusion, adsorption, electrostatic interactions)

Comparative performance of MF, UF, NF, RO, and emerging membrane systems

Hybrid and integrated processes (e.g., membrane–adsorption, membrane–oxidation)

Fouling behavior and mitigation strategies in contaminant-rich waters

Pilot-scale and full-scale applications

Process optimization, energy efficiency, and lifecycle assessment

Materials and membrane design linked to demonstrated separation performance

Article types include original research, reviews, short communications, case studies, and modeling studies with clear implications for membrane applications.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: emerging contaminants, environmental fate, transport, remediation, membrane technologies, persistent organic pollutants (POPs), per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), pharmaceuticals, personal care products, endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs)

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.