Chemisorption of Perfluorooctanoic Acid on Powdered Activated Carbon Initiated by Persulfate in Aqueous Solution.

ABSTRACT: Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is a perfluorocarboxylic acid that is difficult to treat by most conventional methods. As a result, it is often removed from solution by adsorption on powdered activated carbon (PAC), followed by incineration of the spent carbon. To provide a new approach for treatment, PFOA was exposed to sulfate radicals (SO4(-•)) produced by thermolysis of persulfate (S2O8(2-)) in the presence of PAC. Under acidic conditions, thermal activation of persulfate resulted in transformation of PFOA to shorter-chain-length perfluorinated compounds, as previously reported. However, when thermolysis of persulfate occurred under circumneutral pH conditions in the presence of PAC, a new removal pathway for PFOA was observed. Under these conditions, the removal of PFOA was attributable

SUBMITTER: Sun B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6389328 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature