Center Honored with Three ‘Outstanding/Best Paper’ Awards for Work on Emerging Contaminants
December 15, 2025 – Nearly a decade ago, New York State charged the Center for Clean Water Technology with developing solutions for emerging contaminants in drinking water. A series of recent awards and recognitions for the Center provide clear evidence that the Center is delivering for New York. Since its inception, the Center’s work on emerging contaminants has reflected a consistent commitment to high-quality, solutions-oriented environmental research, pairing rigorous analytical science with practical engineering to address real-world risks to water resources and public health. From understanding how ‘forever chemicals’ behave in complex waters to advancing treatment strategies that can be implemented in existing infrastructure, the Center’s researchers are helping move this global field from problem identification to actionable remediation.
The Environmental Science Outstanding Paper initiative recognizes exceptional research that demonstrates scientific excellence, innovation, and a commitment to addressing critical environmental challenges worldwide. The Center is honored to be included among the outstanding papers selected for this recognition for 2024, and to acknowledge a previously recognized paper from a newly appointed Research Scientist.
The Center is proud to announce that it’s article, “Surfactant-enhanced coagulation and flocculation improves the removal of perfluoroalkyl substances from surface water,” has been selected as an Environmental Science: Advances 2024 Outstanding Paper by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). Authored by current Center Research Scientist, Yi Zhang, and former Associate Director, Dr. Arjun K. Venkatesan, and colleagues, the study investigates cationic surfactant–enhanced coagulation as an innovative process modification to improve the removal of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in existing coagulation and flocculation treatment systems.
In addition, Dr. Lokesh Padhye, Center Associate Director, has been recognized with an Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology 2024 Outstanding Paper for his article, “Adsorption mechanisms of short-chain and ultrashort-chain PFAS on anion exchange resins and activated carbon.” This research employs isotherm experiments to elucidate the adsorption mechanisms of widely detected short-chain PFAS—perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS) and perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA)—as well as the ultrashort-chain compound perfluoropropionic acid (PFPrA) on activated carbon and anion exchange resins.
Finally, Center Research Scientist, Dr. Zhengyang “Philip” Wang, was previously awarded the ACS ES&T Engineering 2023 Best Paper for his article, “Pre- and Postapplication Thermal Treatment Strategies for Sorption Enhancement and Reactivation of Biochars for Removal of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances from Water”. This study points to a new strategy of using biochars for PFAS removal.
Together, these three recognitions underscore the Center’s momentum in delivering impactful research that is both scientifically outstanding and directly relevant to environmental decision-making. Building on these advances, the Center will continue to develop and evaluate effective PFAS treatment strategies, improve mechanistic understanding of difficult-to-remove PFAS, and translate findings into approaches that are scalable, implementable, and aligned with long-term environmental and public-health protection of local communities.