PFAS: cleaning up drinking water

Over the past decade PFAS (per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances) have quickly established themselves as one of the most infamous environmental pollutants. They have featured in a Hollywood film and are regularly reported upon by local and national media outlets. For humans, one of our main concerns is PFAS in our drinking water. This a topic that the RSC have been raising awareness of recently through fundamental research and policy-based workshops.

The world of PFAS is a rapidly evolving field. We are currently debating; what is a PFAS, how many there are, how they behave in the environment, how to measure them, how toxic they are, how to regulate them, and how to remediate them. We have learnt a lot about PFAS over the last decade but for every question we answer, more seem to emerge. Now is a truly exciting and challenging time to be involved in this field of research, and that is set to continue for some time to come.

Within this collection, curated by Dr David Megson (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK) we have highlighted recently published manuscripts in RSC journals that have made a significant contribution to our understanding of PFAS in water.

Policy

The case for a more precise definition of regulated PFAS
T. J. Wallington et al., Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2021,23, 1834-1838
10.1039/D1EM00296A 

Reviews

Reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membranes for highly efficient PFASs removal: overview, challenges and future perspectives
Teresa F. Mastropietro et al., Dalton Trans., 2021,50, 5398-5410
10.1039/D1DT00360G

A review of PFAS fingerprints in fish from Norwegian freshwater bodies subject to different source inputs
Håkon A. Langberg et al., Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2022,24, 330-342
10.1039/D1EM00408E

PFAS fate and destruction mechanisms during thermal treatment: a comprehensive review
Grace K. Longendyke et al., Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2022,24, 196-208
10.1039/D1EM00465D

Photo-chemical/catalytic oxidative/reductive decomposition of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), decomposition mechanisms and effects of key factors: a review
Ehsan Banayan Esfahani et al., Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2022,8, 698-728
10.1039/D1EW00774B

Adsorption as a remediation technology for short-chain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from water – a critical review
Hajar Smaili et al., Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2023,9, 344-362
10.1039/D2EW00721E

Current progress in the environmental analysis of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)
Andreas Androulakakis et al., Environ. Sci.: Adv., 2022,1, 705-724
10.1039/D2VA00147K

Measurement

Towards deployable electrochemical sensors for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)
Rebecca B. Clark and Jeffrey E. Dick, Chem. Commun., 2021,57, 8121-8130
10.1039/D1CC02641K

A graphene-based hydrogel monolith with tailored surface chemistry for PFAS passive sampling
Jitka Becanova and Zachary S. S. L. Saleeba et al., Environ. Sci.: Nano, 2021,8, 2894-2907
10.1039/D1EN00517K

Evaluation, optimization, and application of three independent suspect screening workflows for the characterization of PFASs in water
Paige Jacob et al., Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2021,23, 1554-1565
10.1039/D1EM00286D

Development of a PFAS reaction library: identifying plausible transformation pathways in environmental and biological systems
Eric J. Weber et al., Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2022,24, 689-753
10.1039/D1EM00445J

Detection and differentiation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in water using a fluorescent imprint-and-report sensor array
Emily E. Harrison and Marcey L. Waters, Chem. Sci., 2023,14, 928-936
10.1039/D2SC05685B

A field-validated equilibrium passive sampler for the monitoring of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in sediment pore water and surface water
Blessing Medon et al., Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2023,25, 980-995
10.1039/D2EM00483F

Environment

Laboratory validation of an integrative passive sampler for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in water
Paul L. Edmiston et al., Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2023,9, 1849-1861
10.1039/D3EW00047H

Distribution and fate of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in wastewater treatment facilities
Elham Tavasoli et al., Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2021,23, 903-913
10.1039/D1EM00032B

Surface-water/groundwater boundaries affect seasonal PFAS concentrations and PFAA precursor transformations
Andrea K. Tokranov, Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2021,23, 1893-1905
10.1039/D1EM00329A

Distributions and sources of traditional and emerging per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances among multiple environmental media in the Qiantang River watershed, China
Zhengzheng Liu et al., RSC Adv., 2022,12, 21247-21254
10.1039/D2RA02385G

Non-targeted identification and semi-quantitation of emerging per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in US rainwater
Yubin Kim et al., Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2023,25, 1771-1787
10.1039/D2EM00349J

Pyrolysis transports, and transforms, PFAS from biosolids to py-liquid
Patrick McNamara et al., Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2023,9, 386-395
10.1039/D2EW00677D

Remediation

Amyloid fibril-based membranes for PFAS removal from water
Tonghui Jin et al., Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2021,7, 1873-1884
10.1039/D1EW00373A

Mechanochemical destruction of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in aqueous film-forming foams and contaminated soil
Kapish Gobindlal et al., Environ. Sci.: Adv., 2023,2, 982-989
10.1039/D3VA00099K

Proteins as adsorbents for PFAS removal from water
Erik T. Hernandez et al., Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2022,8, 1188-1194
10.1039/D1EW00501D

Efficient removal of short-chain and long-chain PFAS by cationic nanocellulose
Duning Li et al., J. Mater. Chem. A, 2023,11, 9868-9883
10.1039/D3TA01851B

High temperature behaviour of Ag-exchanged Y zeolites used for PFAS sequestration from water
Maura Mancinelli et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2023,25, 20066-20075
10.1039/D3CP01584J

Monitoring the adsorption of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances on carbon black by LDI-MS capable of simultaneous analysis of elemental and organic carbon
Ke Min et al., Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2023,25, 1311-1321
10.1039/D3EM00129F

Exploring the adsorption of short and long chain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to different zeolites using environmental samples
Maura Mancinelli et al., Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2023,9, 2595-2604
10.1039/D3EW00225J

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Emerging Investigator Series – Kun-Yi Andrew Lin

Dr. Lin received his Ph.D. from the Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering at Columbia University (USA). He is currently working as a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Environmental Engineering. His research focuses on development of advanced materials and catalysts for energy and environmental applications. In the past few years, he has been becoming one of leading experts for environmental applications of metal organic frameworks (MOFs) and their derivatives. He has also served as editors and editorial members for more than 10 journals. Dr. Lin has co-authored more than 365 SCI journal papers with a H-index of 58 and more than 12700 citations. From February 2024, Prof. Lin will join the Institute of Analytic and Environmental Sciences at National Tsing Hua University (Hsinchu City, Taiwan).

Read Kun-Yi Andrew Lin ’s Emerging Investigator article “Enhancing Degradation of Ciprofloxacin in Water using Oxone activated by Urchin-like Cubic and Hollow-structured Cobalt@N-doped Carbon prepared via Etching-Engineering” and read more about him in the interview below:

Your recent Emerging Investigator Series paper focuses on Enhancing Degradation of Ciprofloxacin in Water using Oxone activated by Urchin-like Cubic and Hollow-structured Cobalt@N-doped Carbon prepared via Etching-Engineering: A. How has your research evolved from your first article to this most recent article?

As I was trained as an environmental chemical engineer, I have been focusing the development of functional materials to respond to environmental issues and challenges from chemical and material perspectives. In my very first publication, I integrated organic-inorganic hybrid materials to combine advantages of organic soft matters and inorganic solid particles for capturing CO2. Similarly, for affording synergistic effects, the current study further utilizes benefits of inorganic metals and organic carbonaceous substrates to formulate this hybrid material comprised of cobalt embedded onto N-doped carbon with an intriguing hollow morphology in order to maximize active surfaces of catalysts.

What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment?

At this moment, I am quite fascinated by metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) that are a versatile platform for various applications. MOFs can be also tuned to become tools for dealing with conventional and emerging environmental problems.

In your opinion, what are the most important questions to be asked/answered in this field of research?

While designing and developing nanomaterials is interesting and promising, practical applications using nanomaterials would still encounter challenges in reality. Therefore, it is crucial to consider both reality and fancy to develop materials that can be feasibly implemented and operated in practical applications and still retain advantages of nanoscale features.

What do you find most challenging about your research?

The most challenging part of my current research is to integrate fundamental/theoretical perspectives with experimental investigations as the quantum computational chemistry is increasingly adopted as a useful tool to elucidate materials sciences. However, proper applications of quantum computational chemistry for understanding materials science and relationships between materials and reactions would be still quite challenging.

In which upcoming conferences or events may our readers meet you?

I will plan to attend conferences related to chemistry and chemical engineering. Therefore, it may be possible to meet up together at conferences held by American Chemical Society or Royal Society of Chemistry.

How do you spend your spare time?

I like to spend my spare time hanging out with my family to explore natural scenes and I also like to cook to prepare nice cuisines for my family!

Which profession would you choose if you were not a scientist?

If I were not a scientist, I probably would be an industrial designer to design vehicles or shoes to exercise my creativity and imagination.

Can you share one piece of career-related advice or wisdom with other early career scientists?

“No pain, no gain!” The academia is actually very competitive and you are competing with so many talented peers. Therefore, you need to really devote yourself and work hard to achieve your goals!

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Emerging Investigator Series – Arjun Venkatesan

Arjun Venkatesan is an incoming Associate Professor of Civil & Environmental engineering at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). Venkatesan comes to NJIT from Stony Brook University, where he is the Associate Director of the New York State Center for Clean Water Technology and holds a joint appointment in Civil Engineering and the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences as a Research Associate Professor. His research focuses on the occurrence, fate and treatment of toxic chemicals in the environment, with a current focus on PFAS and 1,4-dioxane. Much of his group’s efforts have been focused on physical and chemical treatment of water and in the development of innovative analytical approaches to detect and characterize trace organics in the environment. To date, Dr. Venkatesan has published 50 plus peer-reviewed journal articles on emerging contaminants, wastewater-based epidemiology, and water treatment. His work has been featured in media, including National Geographic, PBS programming and the National Institutes of Health, among others.

Read Arjun Venkatesan ’s Emerging Investigator article “Low doses of electron beam irradiation effectively degrade 1,4-dioxane in water within a few seconds” and read more about him in the interview below:

Your recent Emerging Investigator Series paper focuses on Low doses of electron beam irradiation effectively degrade 1,4-dioxane in water within a few seconds. How has your research evolved from your first article to this most recent article?

My very first article was from my master’s research which focused on the bio-regeneration of perchlorate-laden ion-exchange resin using perchlorate-reducing bacteria. Since then I have explored different aspects of water quality and treatment, with a focus on contaminants of emerging concern. During my PhD, I was trained in environmental analytical chemistry to develop sensitive and robust methods to detect trace organic contaminants with the goal of elucidating their fate and transport in the natural and built environment. My postdoctoral research expanded my understanding and applications in nano-analytics, nano-enabled water treatment, and nanotoxicity. With my training and experience in environmental analytical chemistry and physical/chemical treatment processes, I have now started exploring interfacial adsorption and radical chemistry to develop and apply innovative treatment processes to remove persistent chemicals like 1,4-dioxane and PFAS.

What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment?

Being in academia, what excites me most is the part where you are continuously learning. I enjoy learning and collaborating with people outside my areas of expertise as it allows me to see different perspectives to the same problem.

In your opinion, what are the most important questions to be asked/answered in this field of research?

Although my research is focused on the treatment of individual/specific groups of chemicals (1,4-dioxane, PFAS), I always wonder what else could be in our waters. There are hundreds of thousands of chemicals used in commerce, so it is impossible to know their occurrence, exposures, and associated health impacts. In my opinion, some important questions to be answered are: how do we track and assess exposures to chemical mixtures and determine the resulting health effects? How do we regulate toxic chemical mixtures? How do we account for the known “unknowns” and unknown “unknowns”?

What do you find most challenging about your research?

Time management is challenging, especially trying to balance work and family time is difficult and I am learning to get better at it.

In which upcoming conferences or events may our readers meet you?

I will be participating at ACS, AEESP, and SERDP/ESTCP conferences.

How do you spend your spare time?

Spending time with my daughter, running, and gym.

Which profession would you choose if you were not a scientist?

I am into sketching and painting. I would say: a graphic designer and would have loved a career with Pixar!

Can you share one piece of career-related advice or wisdom with other early career scientists?

The best advice that I received was not to worry about things that are not under your control.  I still follow it or at least try to. And for the things under your control, you act on it now and don’t procrastinate. Following these two simple pieces of advice has made my life less complicated.

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Emerging Investigator Series – Jeseth Delgado Vela

Jeseth Delgado Vela, PhD is Assistant Professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Howard University. Her research applies tools in molecular biology to develop sustainable and cost-efficient urban water treatment. She received her PhD and master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Michigan. She received her bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. She is a recipient of the Ford Foundation Dissertation Award (2016), was named an Early Career Research Fellow by the Gulf Research Program in 2021, and was awarded an NSF CAREER Award in 2022. In Fall 2023, she will join the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Duke University.

Read Jeseth Delgado Vela’s Emerging Investigator article “The role of phage lifestyle on wastewater microbial community structure and function: insights from diverse microbial environments” and read more about her in the interview below:

Your recent Emerging Investigator Series paper focuses on The role of phage lifestyle on wastewater microbial community structure and function: insights from diverse microbial environments. How has your research evolved from your first article to this most recent article? 

My first article discussed control of biological nitrogen removal systems in wastewater treatment. My independent research career has focused on developing novel ways to control microbial communities. I am currently focused on studying microbial community molecular signals, including signals that phages use, and how engineers may hack these signals for bioprocess improvements.

What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment? 

I am excited about applying bioinformatic methods to evaluate phage communities and auxiliary metabolic genes in wastewater microbial communities. I’m energized by just how hard this line of research is, there really are a lot of unknowns on the role and ecology of phage in wastewater.

In your opinion, what are the most important questions to be asked/answered in this field of research? 

I think there is a lot of interest in controlling microbial communities using phages (phage therapy for wastewater). It’s an exciting concept, but I think we need to better understand the hosts, ecology, and function of phages in wastewater treatment.

What do you find most challenging about your research? 

We have a lot of bioinformatic tools that we can apply, but there are so many unknowns in environmental microbial communities. It can be frustrating to have the majority of your data be ‘unknown proteins’ or ‘unknown organisms.’ But, this is also a motivating aspect of the research—there is so much left to understand!

In which upcoming conferences or events may our readers meet you? 

I’ll be at AEESP in Boston in June.

How do you spend your spare time? 

I love outdoor entertaining of friends and family. If you visit me and the weather is nice enough, there will be a grill party. I also am trying to grow veggies to varying degrees of success.

Which profession would you choose if you were not a scientist? 

Truthfully, I probably would be a practicing environmental engineer. If I were more artistic, I would choose to be an architect.

Can you share one piece of career-related advice or wisdom with other early career scientists? 

I think it is often easy for me to lose sight of what a privilege it is to get to think about solutions for a living. I often cope with the demands of building my scientific career by reminding myself how lucky I am to explore my curiosity, collaborate, and continuously learn.

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Emerging Investigator Series – Kyoung-Yeol Kim

Dr. Kyoung-Yeol Kim is an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental & Sustainable Engineering at the University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY). He received his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering at Gwangju Institute of Science & Technology (GIST, South Korea) in 2014. Prior to his appointment at the University at Albany, SUNY, Dr. Kim worked at Pennsylvania State University as a post-doctoral research fellow. Dr. Kim has published 51 research papers in peer-reviewed journals, and his publications have drawn > 3,900 citations (h index: 33, google scholar citation) to date. Dr. Kim is now serving as an early career advisory board member for the Journal of Hazardous Materials Letters, and he was recognized as an Outstanding Reviewer in 2018 for Environmental Science: Water Research and Technology. Dr. Kim’s research group (Kim Research Group @ UAlbany) is now conducting multiple research projects including energy and resource recoveries (electricity, hydrogen, nutrients, etc.) from waste streams using (bio)electrochemical systems, and also per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) treatment using electrochemical processes.

Read Kyoung-Yeol’s Emerging Investigator article “Impacts of aeration flow rates and bubble sizes on PFOA/PFOS removal in electrocoagulation” and read more about him in the interview below:

Your recent EmergingInvestigator Series paper focuses on Impacts of aeration flow rates and bubble sizes on PFOA/PFOS removal in electrocoagulation. How has your research evolved from your first article to this most recent article?

Electrochemical reactions are everywhere in this world so we can use electrochemical principles to solve the problems in the environmental engineering field. This article is a story about one electrochemical process (electrocoagulation) to remove per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from water. Our previous work to control PFAS using electrocoagulation focused on reducing energy requirements. We initially examined a novel electrocoagulation system with an air-cathode to utilize oxygen as an electron acceptor without aeration. In that study, we concluded that aeration could be essential to secure the high PFAS removal efficiency by electrocoagulation. Thus, we have further worked on this concept to explore how aeration affects PFAS removal as well as other performances in electrocoagulation, We have examined different types of bubbles with various flow rates to systematically examine the impacts of aeration in the electrocoagulation system.

What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment?

Aeration is not common in conventional electrocoagulation. There are several studies that employed aeration to improve the oxidation of target contaminants, but not many researchers tried to use oxygen as an electron acceptor. Also, previous electrocoagulation studies only focused on the role of metal hydroxide flocs on PFAS removal. It was a reasonable approach, but we conclude that aeration is also crucial to control PFAS in the electrocoagulation system. This work is the first study that systematically examined the role of aeration (or flotation) in electrocoagulation for PFAS control.

 In your opinion, what are the most important questions to be asked/answered in this field of research?

Adding aeration to electrocoagulation can reduce the intrinsic energy requirement by replacing the hydrogen evolution reaction with an oxygen reduction reaction (which is much more thermodynamically favorable) at the cathode. However, adding aeration will also increase the energy cost. At this point, aeration for electrocoagulation should be optimized to minimize the entire energy consumption. Also, a continuous flow study with realistic water samples should be further examined at a larger scale.

What do you find most challenging about your research?

I have been working on various electrochemical processes to date, electrochemical processes are usually considered sustainable approaches since electrochemical processes are usually environmentally friendly compared to other existing chemical processes. Most of the electrochemical processes are facing the practicability issues like scale-up and running under more realistic conditions. To overcome these barriers, materials and reactor design still need to be improved to maintain reasonable performances at a larger scale.

In which upcoming conferences or events may our readers meet you?

I am going to present this work at the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP) conference in Boston in June 2023.

How do you spend your spare time?

As a father of two little sons, I have to spend my spare time with them in the playground, backyard, playroom, etc. I am sure this applies to other parents with kids too.

Which profession would you choose if you were not a scientist?

I might have become a professional baseball player. Not sure if I could play in MLB though. There are a lot to learn from baseball (and other sports as well).

Can you share one piece of career-related advice or wisdom with other early career scientists?

I am not in a position that can give advice to others, but here’s one thing. Every person has their own pace. For example, some people receive (so-called) prominent grants or awards at a very early stage but some people don’t. However, it doesn’t mean that those slow starters are doing something long. As long as you think you are working hard, do not compare yourself to others. You will reach your goals at some point.

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Emerging Investigator Series – Onur Apul

Onur Apul is an assistant professor of environmental engineering at the University of Maine. He earned his Ph.D. in 2014 in Environmental Engineering at Clemson University and his M.S. in 2009 from Turkey’s Middle East Technical University. Dr. Apul is selected to the 2022 cohort of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists, 40 Under 40 Recognition Program. In 2021, he received the Emerging Investigator Award by Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization. In 2019, he received the “Outstanding Teacher Award” from American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) – Student Chapter. Dr. Apul has published more than 65 peer-reviewed journal articles and submitted 6 patent applications to date. He has given more than 100 presentations including invited keynote lectures and invited talks at national and international meetings. He is an editor of Chemical Engineering Science and early career editorial board member of Chemical Engineering Journal Advances and a member of American Chemical Society, Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization, and the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors.

Read Onur’s Emerging Investigator article “Microplastic-based Leachate Formation under UV Irradiation: The Extent, Characteristics, and Mechanisms” and read more about him in the interview below:

Your recent Emerging Investigator Series paper focuses on Microplastic-based Leachate Formation under UV Irradiation: The Extent, Characteristics, and Mechanisms. How has your research evolved from your first article to this most recent article?

My PhD research focused on delineating intermolecular interactions for adsorption of organic pollutants by carbon-based materials. My training in adsorption of synthetic organic compounds inspired me to study microplastic surfaces as a new domain in aquatic environments. In the lab, we were getting familiar with microplastics, and our collaborator and EPA researcher Dr. Ateia helped us realize the importance of release of dissolved organic matter from microplastics. Overall, this study is a product of another type of interfacial interaction which gradually evolved from my PhD work.

What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment?

This study is only a first step of understanding interfacial interactions of microplastics in natural waters. There are other exciting and relevant research questions that we are asking to reveal this mechanism further. But personally, the ability to raise awareness and eventually mitigate this potential water quality problem, which is only recently connected to the life-cycle of plastics, excites me the most.

In your opinion, what are the most important questions to be asked/answered in this field of research?

New and advanced plastics and composites are breaking through in research and development. There are claims regarding their biodegradability, UV resistance, thermal resistance, self-healing properties. But how do these exciting material properties change the way these microplastics leach dissolved organic matter? And do we have the means to manage this additional influx of organic matter in water treatment facilities especially if you consider microplastics as widespread, increasing, non-point sources of pollution.

What do you find most challenging about your research?

Balancing the complexity of actual systems and the simplicity that we need in the lab to reveal fundamental information is the most challenging part of this research. In the environment there are so many types of plastics, different shapes, sizes, water quality metrics, biofilm coverage of these materials, mechanical interactions, diurnal variations, temperature changes. However, in the lab we are using distilled water and perfectly spherical, 3 mm beads in idealized conditions to understand very specific mechanisms. Although we learn transformative and new knowledge in simple systems, the differences between real world conditions start to make our research context disconnected. For engineers, I believe this delicate balance is universal and always challenging.

In which upcoming conferences or events may our readers meet you?

I try to attend Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP) Research and Education Conferences, Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization (SNO) Conferences, American Chemical Society (ACS) Conferences, Water Quality and Technology Conference, (WQTC), Gordon Research Conferences (GRC).

How do you spend your spare time?

I try to read, listen to music, ride my bicycle, play basketball and exercise. But I am not doing a good job in balancing my time between work and play.

Which profession would you choose if you were not a scientist?

I would choose to be a lawyer. Probably because I don’t know how hard it is to be one.

Can you share one piece of career-related advice or wisdom with other early career scientists?

I would suggest learning how to manage time early on, which means learning how to say “no” to some opportunities. This would allow focusing on your research and advance more in one area. Also be kind to yourself. You are doing good!

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Emerging Investigator Series – Mengyan Li

Dr. Mengyan Li is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science at New Jersey Institute of Technology, specializing in environmental microbiology and biotechnology. Dr. Li received his MS and Ph.D. degrees in Environmental Engineering at Rice University. His research focuses on untangling novel microbial processes that decompose and transform emerging contaminants (e.g., 1,4-dioxane, PFAS, and antibiotics) and developing effective treatment technologies suited for municipal, industrial, and agricultural settings. To tackle frontier challenges in the water-energy-food nexus, his group synergizes modern biotechnological tools (e.g., omics, single-cell analysis, and microarray) with high-resolution mass spectrometry. Dr. Li is a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award, ISPTS Young Scientist Award, and NJIT CSLA Research Rising Star and Graduate Education Awards.

Read Mengyan’s Emerging Investigator article “environment-specific auxiliary substrates tailored for effective cometabolic bioremediation of 1,4-dioxane” and read more about him in the interview below:

 

 

Your recent Emerging Investigator Series paper focuses on Environment-specific Auxiliary Substrates Tailored for Effective Cometabolic Bioremediation of 1,4-Dioxane. How has your research evolved from your first article to this most recent article?

Fortunately, I have been working on 1,4-dioxane biodegradation and bioremediation ever since the beginning of my PhD study. Metabolism and cometabolism are two ways for microorganisms to degrade this emerging contaminant. Metabolism relies on microbes that can grow on 1,4-dioxane as the sole carbon and energy source. In contrast, microbes that cometabolize 1,4-dioxane require auxiliary substrates, such as propane and 1-propanol, to fuel the cells and stimulate the expression of 1,4-dioxane degrading enzymes. During my PhD at Rice University, I published my first article focusing on 1,4-dioxane metabolism and its implications for natural attenuation and bioaugmentation. However, bioremediation by metabolizers is challenged by several limitations for field applications. For instance, most 1,4-dioxane metabolizers tend to form clumps and exhibit low activities when 1,4-dioxane concentration is at trace level in the field. In this Emerging Investigator Series paper, we revealed that cometabolic bioremediation of 1,4-dioxane can be feasible in diverse environments. We also proved that 1-propanol can be an alternative auxiliary substrate as effective as propane when the native microbiome is low in biomass and diversity. This is a major advancement for field applications, since injection of liquid substrates like 1-propanol is more manageable and cost-efficient in deep aquifers and other 1,4-dioxane-impacted environments where injection of gaseous substrates like propane becomes less practical.

What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment?

I am very excited about untangling the molecular foundations for the biodegradation of 1,4-dioxane and other emerging contaminants and transform the learned knowledge to the innovation of remediation technologies to permanently remove these concerned chemicals.

In your opinion, what are the most important questions to be asked/answered in this field of research?

I think it is important to investigate (1) how to sustain and stimulate the activity of native or introduced microbes to degrade the contaminant of concern and (2) how native microbiomes and other environmental factors affect the performance of intrinsic bioremediation.

What do you find most challenging about your research?

With the assistance of state-of-the-art sequencing technologies, we are able to obtain the genomes or metagenomes of contaminant-degrading isolates or consortia, from which several putative genes can be predicted to be associated with the degradation of the contaminant. It is a challenging and tedious task to validate the function of these genes of interests though several biotechnologies (e.g., cloning and knock-out mutation) are available.

In which upcoming conferences or events may our readers meet you?

I routinely take my group to attend national and regional conferences organized by Battelle, Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP), American Chemical Society (ACS), American Society for Microbiology (ASM), and Gordon Research Conferences (GRC). Internationally, I attend conferences organized by International Society for Microbial Ecology (ISME) and International Water Association (IWA). I look forward to connecting with the RSC-ES community in future events.

How do you spend your spare time?

I love nature and arts. Being located in the Metro New York area, I enjoy hiking on the Appalachian Trail, as well as exploring museums, galleries, and ethnic food around.

Which profession would you choose if you were not a scientist?

As an environmental scientist, I am looking for cures for our environment. Alternatively, I would probably work in the pharmaceutical industry to find cures for human beings.

Can you share one piece of career-related advice or wisdom with other early career scientists?

Being motivated and persistent are two driving forces for me to unravel the unknowns and innovate our traditions.

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Emerging Investigator Series – Oded Nir

Read Oded Nir’s Emerging Investigator article “Elucidating morphological effects in membrane mineral fouling using real-time particle imaging and impedance spectroscopy” and read more about him in the interview below:

Your recent Emerging Investigator Series paper focuses on elucidating morphological effects in membrane mineral fouling using real-time particle imaging and impedance spectroscopy. How has your research evolved from your first article to this most recent article?

One of the projects I worked on during my postdoc was using acid-resistant membranes for the filtration of wastewater effluent. Although the effluent itself was not acidic, the robust membrane permitted the use of frequent cleaning with strong acid to eliminate scaling minerals. That can potentially allow reaching very high concentration on the retentate, which means higher permeate recovery and lower brine volume – a critical goal in wastewater effluent filtration. Doing the experiments, I found indications that unlike calcium carbonate, which tends to scale the membrane, calcium phosphate precipitation occurs mainly in the retentate solution, creating some kind of a cake layer. I was curious to know why it is happening, what are the crystal morphologies and the implications on fouling and cleaning, so in my lab, we took a deeper dive into mineral scaling using advanced real-time monitoring. Our findings strongly supported our early assumptions.

What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment?

Currently I am very excited about combining water and wastewater treatment with resource recovery, especially nutrients, through smart process designs.

In your opinion, what are the most important questions to be asked/answered in this field of research?

There is a lot of developments in the field of sustainable water treatment and resource recovery, but I think very often the question should be: is the technology or the process I developed techno-economically feasible? Or at-least, do you see a path towards techno-economical viability? We need these solutions now, not within 20-30 years.

What do you find most challenging about your research?

Bringing a technology from lab to commercial use is very challenging. The solution must be very simple, elegant, and economically attractive. Unfortunately, there is currently not enough incentive for young PI’s to push their innovations toward scale-up.

In which upcoming conferences or events may our readers meet you?

I will be giving talks in the European Desalination Society Congress (EDS 2022 Las-Palmas, Spain), and at the Nanofiltration 2022 conference in Achalem, Germany. Would be very happy to be approached by anyone interested.

How do you spend your spare time?

Mostly with my family. I also do trail running and hiking near our beautiful campus in the Negev desert

Which profession would you choose if you were not a scientist?

Has to be something creative, perhaps content creator or a musician

Can you share one piece of career-related advice or wisdom with other early career scientists?

Treat your students in the best possible way. Always listen, never get angry when making mistakes.

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Read our collection of papers on UN SDG 6: Clean water & sanitation

Urgent action is needed to combat the climate emergency and associated impacts – and across the world, our community are collaborating to address UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

We have put together a collection of leading content on clean water and sanitation from across our energy and environmental science journals. This diverse collection features work on wastewater treatment and disinfection, water resource recovery and monitoring water quality – vital technologies that will help us to improve access to sustainable water for all and address SDG 6.

Read on to discover this exciting collection, featuring:

Opportunities for nanotechnology to enhance electrochemical treatment of pollutants in potable water and industrial wastewater – a perspective by Paul Westerhoff et al.

The potential contribution of urine source separation to the SDG agenda – a review of the progress so far and future development options by Tove A. Larsen et al.

A case study on tap water quality in large buildings recommissioned after extended closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic by Maryam Salehi et al.

A flexible copper sulfide composite membrane with tunable plasmonic resonance absorption for near-infrared light-driven seawater desalination by Zhenmin Xu, Shiping Yang, Zhenfeng Bian et al.

Join us in tackling the climate crisis and contribute to our cross-journal collection showcasing research advancing UN SDGs

The principles of the UN SDGs align closely with our own – to help the chemical science community make the world a better place. So that we can achieve this, we are curating a cross-journal collection across our energy and environmental science journals.

This collection will cover studies which advance our understanding of the climate situation, and present new technologies & innovations to combat climate change – inclusive of environmental engineering, materials science, energy science disciplines and beyond.

We invite you to publish your next paper in this collection – quote ‘XXSDG0622’ when submitting your manuscript. You can put your trust in both our rigorous peer review process and fast times to publication – which are less than 9 weeks after submission across all our journals.

If you have some exciting results to publish on these topics, we would be delighted to hear from you – we are also very happy to guide you on which RSC journal would be the most appropriate for your paper.

Submit your manuscript to the collection

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Emerging Investigator Series – Li Gao

Li Gao is a Research Strategist at South East Water. He received MSc and Phd from Delft University of Technology (Netherlands) and Victoria University (Australia), respectively. His Phd study focused on the development of novel membrane process for desalination purpose. Since his PhD completion, Li has been working in the water utilities and coordinates the strategic research portfolio. His research interests include novel membrane process/material development, emerging contaminant removal, and nature-based water treatment. Li is also an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at Griffith University, Australia.

Read Li Gao’s Emerging Investigator article “Emerging investigator series: Effects of sediment particle size on the spatial distributions of contaminants and bacterial communities in the reservoir sediments” and read more about him in the interview below:

Your recent Emerging Investigator Series paper focuses on Effects of sediment particle size on the spatial distributions of contaminants and bacterial communities in the reservoir sediments. How has your research evolved from your first article to this most recent article?

My initial research starts from algae bloom and water quality. It grows organically to a broader area, including different contaminants (heavy metals, microplastics, PFAS, different microbial contaminants, etc.) in the raw water (rivers and reservoirs), various energy efficient treatment processes (membranes and AOP processes), and network management. I believe we should take a ‘whole-of-system’ approach to manage the entire urban water cycle.

What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment?

Now we are facing a different world with pressures from population growth, resource scarcity, and climate change. My research contributes to the transformation of water industry with the circular economy, helping us to build a more sustainable future.

In your opinion, what are the most important questions to be asked/answered in this field of research?

We find that it is unavoidable to implement the desilting in the reservoirs due to the accumulation of silts. The water quality in reservoirs can be affected significantly for an extended period of time, affecting the environments and water supply security. The key question here is to better understand the effects and develop solutions to manage the negative effects.

What do you find most challenging about your research?

Since I work as a researcher in a water utility, I find the most challenging thing is to transfer the excellent research outcomes into real industry benefits. A lot of studies focus on the fundamental research, which cannot be directly utilised in the industry. It is imperative to bring both sides together and bridge the gaps between research and industry needs.

In which upcoming conferences or events may our readers meet you?

I serve as the organising committee member for the 11th International Membrane Science & Technology Conference (5th – 8th Dec 2022 in Melbourne) and scientific committee member for the 13th International Water Association Specialist Conference on Wastewater Ponds and Algal Technologies (3rd – 6th July 2022 in Melbourne). I am looking forward to meeting peers face-to-face again after 2 years pause and delay due to the COVID-19.

How do you spend your spare time?

I have young kids, they always keep me busy 😊

Which profession would you choose if you were not a scientist?

I enjoy nice food and probably try to open a restaurant and become a Chef.

Can you share one piece of career-related advice or wisdom with other early career scientists?

I do not think I am qualified to provide advice to other early career researchers, but I would like to share the famous movie quote – ‘Life was like a box a chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get’.

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