Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are ubiquitous in many consumer products and present serious environmental challenges due to their persistence nature. Currently, conventional water treatment methods fail to remove PFAS, and other newly proposed materials/techniques face challenges when employed under realistic conditions. This study reports on polyethylenimine-functionalized cellulose microcrystals (PEI-f-CMC) that showed a near-instant and high removal of PFAS under concentrations relevant to their actual occurrence in the natural environment (i.e., &lt; 1000 ng/L). The selective removal efficiency of 22 PFAS from different classes (i.e., legacy carboxylic and sulfonated PFAS, emerging carboxylic and sulfonated PFAS, and PFAS-precursors) using CMC-f-PEI was confirmed in lake water as well as solutions co-dosed with two additional types of natural organic matter (NOM). The performance of CMC-f-PEI was maintained in eight consecutive adsorption/regeneration cycles to remove PFAS. The CMC-f-PEI with its unique fast kinetics and high adsorption activity towards PFAS exhibits a great potential for being a promising alternative adsorbent for PFAS control.

Near-instant removal of poly- and perfluorinated alkyl substances by polyethylenimine-functionalized cellulose microcrystals

2019 Spring National Meeting

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