Efficient Removal of Polyfluoroalkyl Substances from Acquous Solution using Hydrophobic Deep Eutectic Solvent
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Mohammad Halim
Department
CSM – Chemistry and Biochemistry
Abstract
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), fluorinated compounds containing at least one fully fluorinated methyl or methylene carbon atom, are widely used in industrial applications and in consumer goods production owing to their resistance to grease, oil, water, heat, and degradation, including use in beauty and hygiene items, non- stick cookware, air fresheners, cleaners, firefighting foams, photographic, food packaging, and textile applications. PFAS are released into the environment through point sources, including industrial effluents and wastewater treatment plants and nonpoint sources. PFAS and their salts have been detected in industrial wastewater, drinking water, effluents, and landfill leachates and are considered a global concern due to their persistence in the environment, toxicity, and bioaccumulation. Traditional filtration processes such as reverse osmosis, granular activated carbon, and electrocoagulation for removing PFAS have shown limited efficiency, are costly, time consuming and often require further treatment using high-energy-intensive methods such as thermal decomposition. Therefore, for the sake of environmental sustainability, it is crucial to develop efficient and cost-effective methods to extract PFAS from contaminated aqueous solutions. Recently, deep eutectic solvents (DES) have been proposed as a potential solution for being more environmentally friendly, affordable, non-toxic, easy to synthesize and biodegradable to separate various compounds. A stock 5 mM solution was prepared and further utilized in serial dilution method to create varying concentrations from 65 uM to 250 uM which were then utilized and analyzed by LC-MS to create a calibration curve. Moreover, a series of deep eutectic solvents were synthesized to determine which combinations of hydrogen bond donors and acceptors are efficient for removal of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a common PFAS, from aqueous solution. DESs showed an efficiency rate between 69.49% to 98.02%. Menthol and Octanoic Acid DES produced a higher efficiency rate of 98.02%, which is comparable to other filtration processes, but offers a cost-effective method for PFSA extraction from water.
Disciplines
Analytical Chemistry | Environmental Chemistry
Efficient Removal of Polyfluoroalkyl Substances from Acquous Solution using Hydrophobic Deep Eutectic Solvent
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), fluorinated compounds containing at least one fully fluorinated methyl or methylene carbon atom, are widely used in industrial applications and in consumer goods production owing to their resistance to grease, oil, water, heat, and degradation, including use in beauty and hygiene items, non- stick cookware, air fresheners, cleaners, firefighting foams, photographic, food packaging, and textile applications. PFAS are released into the environment through point sources, including industrial effluents and wastewater treatment plants and nonpoint sources. PFAS and their salts have been detected in industrial wastewater, drinking water, effluents, and landfill leachates and are considered a global concern due to their persistence in the environment, toxicity, and bioaccumulation. Traditional filtration processes such as reverse osmosis, granular activated carbon, and electrocoagulation for removing PFAS have shown limited efficiency, are costly, time consuming and often require further treatment using high-energy-intensive methods such as thermal decomposition. Therefore, for the sake of environmental sustainability, it is crucial to develop efficient and cost-effective methods to extract PFAS from contaminated aqueous solutions. Recently, deep eutectic solvents (DES) have been proposed as a potential solution for being more environmentally friendly, affordable, non-toxic, easy to synthesize and biodegradable to separate various compounds. A stock 5 mM solution was prepared and further utilized in serial dilution method to create varying concentrations from 65 uM to 250 uM which were then utilized and analyzed by LC-MS to create a calibration curve. Moreover, a series of deep eutectic solvents were synthesized to determine which combinations of hydrogen bond donors and acceptors are efficient for removal of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a common PFAS, from aqueous solution. DESs showed an efficiency rate between 69.49% to 98.02%. Menthol and Octanoic Acid DES produced a higher efficiency rate of 98.02%, which is comparable to other filtration processes, but offers a cost-effective method for PFSA extraction from water.