Adsorption of Perfluorinated Compounds onto Activated Carbon and Activated Sludge

作者：Yu Jing; Hu Jiangyong^*

来源：Journal of Environmental Engineering (United States), 2011, 137(10): 945-951.

DOI：10.1061/(ASCE)EE.1943-7870.0000402

• Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS)
• Perfluorooctanoate (PFOA)
• Effluent organic matter (EfOM)
• Powdered activated carbon
• Adsorption
• Activated sludge

The adsorption of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) onto powdered activated carbon (PAC) was investigated in the presence and absence of effluent organic matter (EfOM) at an environmentally relevant concentration range (0.1-500 mu g/L). Adsorption of PFOS and PFOA to PAC fitted the Freundlich model well (r(2) > 0.98), and adsorption capacity of PFOS (K(F) = 17.48) and PFOA (K(F) = 10.03) in the absence of EfOM was more than one order of magnitude higher than that in the presence of EfOM (K(F) = 0.66 for PFOS, K(F) = 0.20 for PFOA), indicating that EfOM greatly reduces the adsorption capacity of PAC. Moreover, EfOM was characterized by ultrafiltration, and fractions of nominal molecular weights were obtained to investigate their effect on the PFOS and PFOA adsorption. The fraction of < 1 kDa had greater effect on adsorption than the fraction of > 30 kDa, indicating that the similar molecular size of target compounds was the major contributor to adsorption competition. Additionally, biosorption of PFOS and PFOA to activated sludge fitted the linear isotherm (r(2) > 0.9) within a concentration range of 50-400 mu g/L. On the basis of our data, the estimated partition coefficient, K(d), was 729 L/kg for PFOS and 154 L/kg for PFOA, respectively, suggesting that PFOS and especially PFOA have a low tendency to partition onto sludge. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)EE.1943-7870.0000402.

• 出版日期2011-10