Environmental Science: Advances Blog

The Royal Society of Chemistry’s environmental science and sustainability journals are delighted to announce our new themed collection dedicated to advancing the science and application of alternatives to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

This exciting new cross-journal collection aims to build on the growing momentum in the development of PFAS-free chemistries and materials, providing a central platform for the latest research, insights, and innovations in this critical area and seeks to uncover new opportunities in this evolving field that support the transition away from PFAS. It is Guest Edited by Dr Alan Taylor (TWI, UK), Professor Manish Tiwari (UCL, UK), Professor Ian Cousins (Stockholm University, Sweden), Dr Romain Figuiere (Stockholm University, Sweden) and Professor Mohamed Ateia (Rice University, USA.)

We invite you to submit your latest research in this area to one of the participating journals: Environmental Science: Advances, Environmental Science: Atmospheres, Environmental Science: Nano, Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology, Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts and RSC Sustainability. The breadth of the subject requires that we focus on particular key topics to facilitate the most effective communication between researchers and to aid the wider community in finding key information relating to the most recent developments. The collection will therefore focus on the following topics:

• Development of PFAS-free alternative chemistries, materials and technologies
• Applications of Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) principles
• Compilations of various PFAS alternatives for specific use cases
• Testing of performance and safety of alternatives
• Alternatives’ assessment (including performance, hazard assessment and lifecycle assessment)
• Circular economy approaches
• Global perspectives on alternatives

Central to this collection is the examination of the relationship between functional behaviour and industrial relevance and the environmental impacts of alternatives to PFAS. It is expected that this journal collection will help to identify and disseminate best practice in the adoption of Safe and SSbD principles to prevent regrettable substitutions whilst also facilitating the reduction in the discovery-to-deployment times for PFAS alternatives.

These ambitions are considerable and challenging and so both reflect the nature of the topic and the need for a dedicated journal collection.

The submission deadline for this collection is 30th April 2026. Check out the open call here.

If you are interested in contributing to this collection, please contact the editorial office of your preferred journal and we will set up a bespoke submission link for you to use to prepare your submission. Alternatively, upon submission mention that your work is a contribution to the PFAS alternatives collection in the “Themed issues” section of the submission form and add a “Note to the Editor” that this is from the Open Call.

Please note that whilst we welcome submissions to the above journals, we are unable to guarantee peer review or eventual acceptance in your chosen journal. The Editorial Office reserves the right to check suitability of submissions in relation to the scope of the collection. All manuscripts will be subject to the journal’s usual peer review process. If a submission is not found to be suitable for the chosen journal, we will endeavour to find the most suitable home within our portfolio of journals.

We invite you to contribute to our new collection aiming to highlight the environmental impact of mining and recycling of minerals and metals from batteries.

Research into the extraction and recycling of materials and minerals for batteries is crucial for protecting our environment and to promote sustainable resource use. Understanding the environmental impacts and challenges associated with these activities, such as health implications for local populations exposed to air and water pollution, biodiversity loss from mining and recycling activities, and the distinct environmental effects of deep-sea versus land-based mining, can support with the development of sustainable and more efficient practices.

For more information on the collection, which closes for submissions on 30 May 2025, see our open call for papers.

When you publish with Environmental Science: Advances you can:

• Put your trust in both our rigorous peer review process and fast times to publication.
• Expect your work to be promoted through our journal social media (@EnvSciRSC and LinkedIn)
• Be confident of a global audience for your work. This means that dissemination of this work will likely go beyond chemists and reach a broader audience.

Environmental Science: Advances is a gold open access journal and covers advances in all areas related to environmental sustainability. Authors are welcome to submit original research as a Communication, Full Paper or Review article. Please contact the editorial office to register your interest or for more information. Alternatively, you can submit a manuscript below.

Manuscripts should be submitted via the Royal Society of Chemistry’s online submission service and the Editorial Office informed by email. Please state the code “VABatMat25” in the “Comments to the Editor” submission question when you submit your manuscript, to indicate that this is a submission for the themed collection. The Editorial Office reserves the right to check suitability of submissions in relation to the scope of the collection and inclusion of accepted articles in the collection is not guaranteed. All manuscripts will be subject to the journal’s usual peer review process. Accepted manuscripts will be added to the online collection as soon as they are online and will be published in a regular issue of Environmental Science: Advances.

We are delighted to announce that Ngai Yin Yip has joined the Environmental Science: Advances Editorial Board as an Associate Editor. He received his doctoral degree in Chemical and Environmental Engineering from Yale University and currently serves as the Lavon Duddleson Krumb Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Engineering at Columbia University.

Dr. Yip’s current research is at the forefront of advancing physicochemical technologies and innovations to address critical separation challenges in water, energy, and the environment, including:

• High-salinity desalination
• Zero-liquid discharge
• Resource recovery from wastewaters
• Next-generation selective membranes
• Switchable solvents for water treatment
• Low-grade heat utilization

His outstanding contributions to these areas have earned him numerous recognitions, including the James J. Morgan Early Career Award (Honorable Mention) from Environmental Science & Technology. He has also been featured as an Emerging Investigator in Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology and as a Young Talent in Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering.

Emerging investigator series: thermodynamic and energy analysis of nitrogen and phosphorous recovery from wastewaters
Stephanie N. McCartney, Nobuyo S. Watanabe and Ngai Yin Yip*
Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2021,7, 2075-2088
DOI: 10.1039/D1EW00554E