Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Aug 23;17(17):4169.
doi: 10.3390/ma17174169.

Adsorption Technology for PFAS Removal in Water: Comparison between Novel Carbonaceous Materials

Marco Petrangeli Papini  1 , Marta Senofonte  1 , Riccardo Antonino Cuzzola  1 , Rania Remmani  1 , Ida Pettiti  1 , Carmela Riccardi  2 , Giulia Simonetti  1
Affiliations

Adsorption Technology for PFAS Removal in Water: Comparison between Novel Carbonaceous Materials

Marco Petrangeli Papini et al. Materials (Basel). .

Abstract

PFASs are a variety of ecologically persistent compounds of anthropogenic origin loosely included in many industrial products. In these, the carbon chain can be fully (perfluoroalkyl substances) or partially (polyfluoroalkyl substances) fluorinated. Their ubiquitous presence in many environmental compartments over the years and their long-lasting nature have given rise to concerns about the possible adverse effects of PFASs on ecosystems and human health. Among a number of remediation technologies, adsorption has been demonstrated to be a manageable and cost-effective method for the removal of PFASs in aqueous media. This study tested two novel and eco-friendly adsorbents (pinewood and date seeds biochar) on six different PFASs (PFOS, GenX, PFHxA, PFOA, PFDA, and PFTeDA). Batch sorption tests (24 h) were carried out to evaluate the removal efficiency of each PFAS substance in relation to the two biochars. All samples of liquid phase were analyzed by a developed and then a well-established method: (i) pre-treatment (centrifugation and filtration) and (ii) determination by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). The results evidenced a comparable adsorption capacity in both materials but greater in the long-chain PFASs. Such findings may lead to a promising path towards the use of waste-origin materials in the PFAS remediation field.

Keywords: PFASs; adsorption technology; date seeds biochar; pinewood biochar; water treatments.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Laboratory procedure from batch test to analytical determination.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) N2 adsorption/desorption isotherms; (b) total pore volume of DS biochar.
Figure 3
Figure 3
SEM images of DS (a,b), provided by the CNIS institute.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Sorption kinetics of PFOS on PW (a) and DS (b) at 2 g L−1.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Sorption isotherms of PFOS (a,b), GenX (c,d), PFHxA (e,f), PFOA (g,h), PFDA (i,j), and PFTeDA (k,l) on PW and DS biochar at 10 µg L−1.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Sorption isotherms of PFOS (a,b), GenX (c,d), PFHxA (e,f), PFOA (g,h), PFDA (i,j), and PFTeDA (k,l) on PW and DS biochar at 10 µg L−1.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Glüge J., Scheringer M., Cousins I.T., DeWitt J.C., Goldenman G., Herzke D., Lohmann R., Ng C.A., Trier X., Wang Z. An overview of the uses of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) Environ. Sci. Process. Impacts. 2020;22:2345–2373. doi: 10.1039/D0EM00291G. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. European Chemical Agency (ECHA) [(accessed on 1 July 2024)]. Available online: https://echa.europa.eu/hot-topics/perfluoroalkyl-chemicals-pfas.
    1. Ng C.A., Hungerbühler K. Bioconcentration of perfluorinated alkyl acids: How important is specific binding? Environ. Sci. Technol. 2013;47:7214–7223. doi: 10.1021/es400981a. - DOI - PubMed
    1. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences NIEHS Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) [(accessed on 4 July 2024)]; Available online: https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/pfc/index.cfm#footnote.
    1. Fenton S.E., Ducatman A., Boobis A., DeWitt J.C., Lau C., Ng C., Smith J.S., Roberts S.M. Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substance Toxicity and Human Health Review: Current State of Knowledge and Strategies for Informing Future Research. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2021;40:606–630. doi: 10.1002/etc.4890. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources