Advancing Sustainable Distributed Water Treatment: Electrochemistry and Membrane Science for Selective Technologies

In this talk, Yanghua will present recent advances integrating electrochemistry and membrane science to overcome these limitations. The first part introduces electrochemical systems designed for distributed treatment, where electrodes generate hydrogen peroxide on demand and convert it into hydroxyl radicals with high efficiency. By identifying low-cost catalysts and leveraging localized electric fields, these systems achieve greater selectivity in contaminant transformation while mitigating interference from natural organic matter. The second part highlights catalytic nanofiltration membranes that combine polymer chemistry and metal–ligand complexation to integrate molecular separation with catalytic reactivity. These membranes selectively block natural organic matter while allowing access to target pollutants, and nanoscale confinement within membrane pores further enhances catalytic transformation. Together, these innovations represent a promising toolkit for developing selective, efficient, and sustainable water treatment systems capable of addressing diverse global challenges