PICOs

Sorbent materials have various environmental applications, i.e. water filtration, separation, and purification. Rapid progress in nanotechnology and a new focus on biomass-based instead of non-renewable starting materials have produced a wide range of novel engineered sorbents. The development and evaluation of novel sorbents requires a multidisciplinary approach encompassing environmental, nanotechnology, physical, analytical, and surface chemistry. The necessary evaluations encompass not only the efficiency of these materials to remove contaminants from surface waters and groundwater, industrial wastewater, polluted soils and sediments, etc., but also the potential side-effects of their environmental applications. Contributions examining the use of novel sorbents for environmental remediation are welcome. More specifically the contributions may be focused on:

• biosorbents: characterization; evaluation;
• biochars: process optimization; physically and chemically activated biochars;
• reactive sorbents: development; characterization; evaluation;
• nanotechnology based sorbents: development; characterization; evaluation;
• development of sorbents, reactive sorbents, or catalysts from geomaterials;
• sorbent-based in-situ remediation of contaminated soils, aquifers and sediments: experimental work; field studies;
• ecotoxicity of novel sorbents.