Development of high affinity novel Fluor Mop adsorbent for the rapid removal of perfluorinated chemicals from groundwater - Perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS), nicknamed “Forever Chemicals”, are extensively used in industries
and firefighting applications as a component of aqueous film forming foams (AFFFs). Because members
of this class of chemicals are persistent, they are prevalent in nature and are detected across the globe in
water, air, soil, plants, animals, and even in human milk and blood. They are toxic to human health, and
even at lower levels are linked to developmental effects in infants, liver toxicity, increased risk of certain
types of cancer, immune system impacts, thyroid disease, and many other health issues.
Therefore the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has recently set health advisories level for two PFAS,
perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) at 70 ng/L individually or combined.
In response to the need for remediation of PFAS contaminated water many technologies have been
scrutinized, including adsorption-based remediation technology. Most notably, the use of granular activated
carbon (GAC) and ion exchange resins sorbents. Among these, GAC is the most widely accepted and
commonly used treatment technology for PFAS contaminated groundwater and drinking water. However,
GAC has many drawbacks for example its susceptibility to fouling by natural organic matter, expensive
intensive high energy regeneration process, and inferior in removal of short chain PFAS. Additionally, since
GAC is not designed for PFAS adsorption it displays only low affinity towards PFAS, thus, it requires
significantly large amounts of GAC to achieve the desired PFAS levels. Therefore, there is a need for
adsorbents that are specifically designed for the PFOA/PFOS removal in efficient, cost-effective, and
recyclable manner.
In ongoing research, Weaver Labs has designed novel PFOA/PFOS specific adsorbents that leverage an
advanced solid support platform. In the preliminary adsorption studies, the adsorbent demonstrated superior
PFOA/PFOS affinity compared to GAC technology using PFOA/PFOS contaminated real world
groundwater. Weaver labs’ long-term goal for this project is to develop commercial PFAS specific
adsorbent filter that is highly efficient, effective, recyclable and economical which can be utilized to purify
PFAS contaminated water. Ultimately, it would allow pure water to be delivered to the public, thus
decreasing the health risk associated with these chemicals. To meet the long-term goal this proposal’s
objective is to develop and screen novel adsorbents, carry out the required kinetic adsorption study
experiments, and optimize its regeneration and reuse. The completion of proposed study will position us
for phase II studies, including a rapid small-scale column study, and eventual pilot study.
