Selective removal of water contaminants of emerging concern through in-situ molecular mechanistic understanding

Ensuring the availability of clean water is an essential global challenge. A significant fraction of the world’s population is at risk of water scarcity or insecurity.

Water plays an important role in the balance of our ecosystem and the continued preservation of biodiversity across our planet.

Although some pollutants are easily removed in conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), so-called contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) have proved to be challenging to remove.Commonly used amorphous adsorbents, such as activated carbon, come with the inherent limitation in terms of tailoring of adsorption properties due to their less well-defined structures.

Crystalline nanoporous materials are an alternative adsorbent, providing selective properties.

The crystalline nanoporous adsorbents could hence be used as a selective complement in future WWTPs.In order to develop adsorbents with selective properties, it will be of utmost importance to gain an enhanced understanding of their properties.

Transmission electron microscopy and in situ experiments provide excellent opportunities to study the adsorption process in liquid state as it happens, paving the way for a molecular understanding of the adsorption mechanism. We have already discovered a new candidate adsorbent with highly selective properties for removal of some CECs.

Enhanced understanding of the molecular mechanism of contaminant adsorption, it will be possible to create materials with tailored uptake properties.