Efficient adsorptive removal of short-chain perfluoroalkyl acids using reed straw-derived biochar (RESCA)
Open accessAbstract
Drinking water and groundwater treatment of perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) heavily relies on adsorption-based approaches using carbonaceous materials, such as granular activated carbon (GAC). Application of GAC is restricted by its inefficiency to remove short-chain PFAAs that have prevalently emerged as substitutes and/or metabolites of long-chain polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Here, we synthesized reed straw-derived biochar (RESCA) exhibiting exceptional removal efficiencies (>92%) toward short-chain PFAAs at environment-relevant concentrations (e.g., 1 μg/L). Pseudo-second-order kinetic constants of RESCA were 1.13 and 1.23 L/(mg h) for perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA) and perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS), respectively, over six times greater than GAC. SEM imaging and BET analysis revealed the combination of highly hydrophobic surface and scattered distribution of mesopores (2-10 nm in diameter) was associated with the rapid adsorption of short-chain PFAAs. RESCA-packed filters demonstrated effective removal of the mixture of three short-chain and three long-chain PFAAs in the influent with the flow rate up to 45 mL/min. In contrast, GAC-packed filters were significantly less efficient in the removal of short-chain PFAAs, which were also negatively affected by the increase of the flow rate. Efficacy of RESCA-packed filters was also validated in four PFAA-spiked groundwater samples from different sites. Dissolved organic matter (DOC) of >8 mg/L can nega…
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Components of the DOC could potentially compete with PFAS for retention on RemBindTM via hydrophobic or anion exchange mechanisms.
“Components of the DOC could potentially compete with PFAS for retention on RemBind™ via hydrophobic41 or anion exchange mechanisms.42”
From Evaluation of sorbents and matrix effects for treating heavy metals and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances as co-contaminants in stormwater (2023) · cites this paper as [41]
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- Authors
- Liu, N., Wu, C., Lyu, G., & Li, M.
- Affiliations
- New Jersey Institute of Technology (US)
- Corresponding author
- Li, Mengyan
- Venue
- Science of The Total Environment
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2021-12
- Volume
- 798
- Pages
- 149191
- ISSN
- 0048-9697 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3183421146
- Cited by
- 117
- References
- 12
- Citations by year
- 2026: 20 · 2025: 35 · 2024: 33 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 5.87
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
- www.elsevier.com/legal/tdmrep-license (tdm)
- www.elsevier.com/open-access/userlicense/1.0/ (am, 240 d)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-017 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-037 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-012 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-029 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-004 (stm-asf)
- Locations
- The Science of The Total Environment (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- China Scholarship Council
- EPA
- NSF CBET
- New Jersey Department of Health
- New Jersey Water Resources Research Institute
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances research
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Environmental remediation with nanomaterials
- Keywords
- biochar, reed straw, adsorption, perfluorobutanoic acid, PFBS, drinking water treatment, groundwater treatment, adsorption kinetics, mesopores, dissolved organic carbon, PFAS removal
- MeSH terms
- Adsorption, Charcoal, Fluorocarbons, Water Pollutants, Chemical, Water Purification
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