Improving the Hydrophobicity of Powder Activated Carbon to Enhance the Adsorption Kinetics of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances

IF 4.8 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Elliot Reid, Qingquan Ma, Lan Gan, Jiahao He, Thomas Igou, Ching-Hua Huang* and Yongsheng Chen*, 
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are difficult to treat by using conventional drinking water treatment technologies. Herein, we upgrade a commercially available powder activated carbon (PAC) via an acid wash and pyrolysis to amplify hydrophobicity and enhance PFAS adsorption. Minimal differences in overall surface area, micropore volume and area, and external surface area were observed between acid-washed and pyrolyzed PACs. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, contact angle measurements, and scanning electron microscopy evidenced ∼5% reduced oxygen content and noticeable hydrophobicity increases for the pyrolyzed PAC, without altering morphology. Adsorption isotherms of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) showed no major increases to adsorption capacity, but more rapid adsorption kinetics of PFOA and perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS) to the pyrolyzed PAC, in both low and high PFAS concentration tests, were revealed in both reagent water and synthetic natural organic matter, with overall greater removal values (e.g., ∼90% removal vs 60%, in water after 1 h at 2 mg/L PFOA). PFOA and PFBS adsorption behavior adhered to pseudo-second-order kinetics (R2 = 0.843–0.992). Density functional theory calculations quantitatively evaluated adsorption energies of PFOA and PFBS onto a graphene skeleton containing different organic functional groups, finding supportive outcomes. This work greater informs the importance of hydrophobicity for PFAS adsorption onto PAC.

Pyrolyzed powder activated carbon demonstrates superior adsorption kinetics for several per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which is confirmed via density functional theory.

提高粉末活性炭的疏水性以增强对全氟烷基和多氟烷基物质的吸附动力学
单氟烷基和多氟烷基物质(PFAS)是传统饮用水处理技术难以处理的。在此,我们通过酸洗和热解对市售粉末活性炭(PAC)进行升级,以增强疏水性并增强PFAS的吸附。酸洗PACs和热解PACs的总表面积、微孔体积和面积以及外表面积差异极小。x射线光电子能谱、接触角测量和扫描电子显微镜证明,热解后的PAC氧含量降低了约5%,疏水性明显增加,而形貌没有改变。全氟辛酸(PFOA)的吸附等温线没有显示出吸附能力的显著增加,但在低和高PFAS浓度的测试中,在试剂水和合成的天然有机物中,PFOA和全氟丁烷磺酸(PFBS)对热解PAC的吸附动力学更快,总体去除率更高(例如,在2mg /L PFOA条件下,1小时后,水中去除率为90% vs 60%)。PFOA和PFBS的吸附行为符合准二级动力学(R2 = 0.843 ~ 0.992)。密度泛函理论计算定量评估了PFOA和PFBS在含有不同有机官能团的石墨烯骨架上的吸附能,发现了支持的结果。通过密度泛函理论证实,热解粉末活性炭对几种单氟烷基和多氟烷基物质具有优越的吸附动力学。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
5.40
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