Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) present an analytical and separation challenge because their structural diversity exceeds the chemical space covered by many conventional methods developed for legacy compounds. This review links environmental partitioning, matrix-specific analytical enrichment, selective separation, and residual management through a property-driven framework. Fluorinated-chain length, functional-group chemistry, ionization, molecular architecture, hydration, and interfacial activity influence environmental mobility, analytical accessibility, and compound-specific separation behavior. These shared controls help explain why targeted measurements can incompletely represent PFAS burdens and why adsorption, ion exchange, foam fractionation, nanofiltration, reverse osmosis, and hybrid systems show variable performance across PFAS classes. This paper distinguishes selective capture and concentration from destructive treatment by separately evaluating parent-compound transformation, defluorination, and fluorine mass balance. Particular attention is given to short-chain, ultrashort-chain, ether-containing, precursor-derived, and analytically unresolved PFAS, together with PFAS-enriched residuals such as spent sorbents, regenerants, membrane retentates, and foam concentrates. The CREST principles-Comprehensiveness, Robustness, Efficiency, Selectivity, and Traceability-provide a model for connecting analytical characterization with separation decisions and treatment-train evaluation. Progress will depend on experimentally supported property-performance relationships, harmonized cross-matrix analytical workflows, and defensible mass balances that track both quantified PFAS and unresolved fluorinated fractions.
Chloramphenicols (CAPs) are broad-spectrum antibiotics widely used in clinical medicine and animal husbandry, yet their persistent residues in environmental and food matrices pose serious threats to ecosystems and human health due to their potential to cause aplastic anemia and other toxic effects. The effective management of CAPs contamination requires integrated strategies spanning sample pretreatment, sensitive detection, and environmental remediation, all of which demand high-performance materials. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), with their ultra-high specific surface areas, tunable pore structures, abundant active sites, and facile functionalization, have emerged as versatile platforms capable of addressing these multifaceted challenges. This review systematically summarizes the research progress of MOF-based materials for CAPs applications since 2020, covering three interconnected aspects: (i) as adsorbents enabling highly selective enrichment of trace CAPs from complex matrices; (ii) as sensing elements facilitating rapid and ultrasensitive detection; and (iii) as adsorbents or catalysts for the efficient removal of CAPs via adsorption or catalytic degradation. By integrating these diverse functionalities, this review highlights the unique advantages of MOFs in the complete lifecycle management of CAPs—from enrichment and sensing to remediation. The design strategies, underlying mechanisms, and performance merits of various MOF-based materials are critically examined, and future perspectives are discussed. This review aims to provide a comprehensive reference for the rational design of advanced MOF materials and to inspire cross-disciplinary innovations addressing antibiotic contamination challenges.
The problem of plastic pollution, already evident in the most remote ecosystems, has led to growing concern about what happens to its chemical compounds when they leach into the environment. This critical review synthesises analytical advances (2020-2026) for detecting and quantifying plastic leachates in environmental matrices, emphasising field-based methods and real-world environmental occurrence data. Field studies document plastic leachate concentrations ranging from ng/L in waters to & micro;g/g in contaminated soils, with the highest concentrations near recycling sites and urban rivers. However, comprehensive assessment remains analytically constrained by the chemical diversity (>16000 potential leachates and similar to 100 reference standards); ultra-trace detection requirements (ng/L) in highly complex environmental matrices; and fundamental trade-offs between analytical selectivity and chemical compound coverage. Green chemistry approaches (e.g., Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe - QuEChERS, miniaturised extraction methods) improve accessibility and reduce solvent use, but compromise sensitivity. High-resolution mass spectrometry enables non-target screening of unknown leachates, though identification of most chemical compounds remains elusive. Portable sensors offer field applicability presents lower selectivity and sensitivity relative to laboratory benchmarks. Addressing these limitations requires the complementary deployment of targeted quantification, suspect screening, and nontargeted discovery, supported by harmonised sampling procedures and standardised reference materials. This review discusses the varied approaches currently used to assess plastic leachates in field samples and outlines analytical strategies for a more refined and harmonised methodological approach that balances sensitivity, feasibility, comparability, and environmental relevance.
