Scientific and technological innovations of wastewater treatment in China

Highlights

● Wastewater treatment targets and processes change with demands.

● Research hotspots in wastewater treatment were described using bibliometrics.

● Five pathways for technology development were proposed.

● Material genetics, synthetic biology, artificial intelligence were highlighted.

Abstract

The “dual-carbon” strategy promotes the development of the wastewater treatment sector and is an important tool for leading science and technology innovations. Based on the global climate change and the new policies introduced by China, this paper described the new needs for the development of wastewater treatment science and technology. It offered a retrospective analysis of the historical trajectory of scientific and technological advancements in this field. Utilizing bibliometrics, it delineated the research hotspots within wastewater treatment, notably highlighting materials genomics, artificial intelligence, and synthetic biology. Furthermore, it posited that, in the future, the field of wastewater treatment should follow the paths of technological innovations with multi-dimensional needs, such as carbon reduction, pollution reduction, health, standardisation, and intellectualisation. The purpose of this paper was to provide references and suggestions for scientific and technological innovations in the field of wastewater treatment, and to contribute to the common endeavor of moving toward a Pollution-Free Planet.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Wastewater treatment / Dual-carbon strategy / Technological innovation / Carbon reduction

Hongqiang Ren an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and currently holds positions as a professor, doctoral supervisor, and dean at School of the Environment, Nanjing University. He is the head of National Excellent Engineer Team “Industrial Wastewater Treatment Technology and Equipment”, and the project leader of Basic Science Center Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Water Quality Risk Control Engineering). He has long been engaged in the innovative research on industrial wastewater treatment and prevention and control of water pollution in industrial parks, published more than 300 peer-reviewed papers and 5 monographs, authorized more than 120 invention patents in China and over 40 patents in the US and the European Union, presided over the compilation of more than 100 international and domestic standards. He has won a total of 17 important awards including 3 second prizes of the National Technological Invention Award, 1 second prize of the National Natural Science Award, 1 Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation Science and Technology Innovation Award, 7 first prizes of the Provincial and Ministerial Science and Technology Awards, 1 ISO Outstanding Contribution Award, and 1 China Standard Innovation Contribution Award

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Center for Basic Sciences of China (No. 52388101), the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Science and Technology (China) (No. BK20220012), and the Excellent Research Program of Nanjing University (China) (No. ZYJH005).

Conflict of Interests

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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