Publications
Advanced oxidation processes may transform unknown PFAS in groundwater into known products
Mahmut S. Ersana b c, Bo Wangc d, Michael S. Wongc d, Paul Westerhoffb c
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a Department of Civil Engineering, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND, 58202, USA
b School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287-5306, USA
c Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment, Arizona State University, USA
d Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Department of Environmental Engineering, Department of Chemistry, and Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University, Houston, TX, 77005, USA
Chemosphere
Available online 2 December 2023, 140865
Abstract
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of fluorinated organic contaminants classified as persistent in the aquatic environment. Early studies using targeted analysis approaches to evaluate the degradation of PFAS by advanced oxidation processes (AOP) in real water matrices may have been misinterpreted due to the presence of undetected or unknown PFAS in these matrices. The aims of the present study were to (1) screen selected commercially available AOPs (UV, UV + H2O2, O3/H2O2) and UV photocatalysis in a pilot system using commercially used and novel photocatalysts (TiO2, boron nitride [BN]) for removing PFAS contaminants and (2) evaluate their role on the conversion of non-detected/unknown to known PFAS compounds in real groundwater used as drinking water supplies. Results indicated that, while AOPs have the potential to achieve removal of the EPA method 533 target PFAS compounds (PFDA [100%], PFNA [100%], PFOA [85–94%], PFOS [25–100%], PFHxS [3–100%], PFPeS [100%], PFBS [100%]), AOPs transformed non-detected/unknown longer-chain PFAS compounds to detectable shorter-chain ones under very high-dose AOP operating conditions, leading to an increase in ∑PFAS concentration ranging from 95% to 340%....