The Adsorption of Perfluorooctanoic Acid on Coconut Shell Activated Carbons

Premrudee Kanchanapiya; Supachai Songngam; Thanapol Tantisattayakul; Premrudee Kanchanapiya; Supachai Songngam; Thanapol Tantisattayakul

doi:10.3934/environsci.2022010

AIMS Environmental Science

2022, Volume 9, Issue 2: 128-139. doi: 10.3934/environsci.2022010

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Research article

The Adsorption of Perfluorooctanoic Acid on Coconut Shell Activated Carbons

1.
National Metal and Materials Technology Center, National Science and Technology Development Agency, Pathumthani, 12120, Thailand
2.
Department of Sustainable Development Technology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Thammasat University, Thailand

Received: 09 November 2021 Revised: 03 February 2022 Accepted: 24 February 2022 Published: 21 March 2022

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is one of Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that have increasingly attracted concerns due to their global distribution in environment, persistence, high bioaccumulation and toxicity. It is important to study the effective treatment to remove PFOA from contaminated water. The feasibility of using commercial coconut shell activated carbon produced in Thailand to remove PFOA from water was investigated with regard to their adsorption kinetics and isotherms of powder activated carbon (PAC-325) and granular activated carbon (GAC-20x50). Adsorption kinetic results show that the adsorbent size significantly affected the adsorption rate of PFOA, and GAC-20x50 required at least 100 h to achieve the equilibrium, much longer than 3 h for PAC-325. Two kinetic models were fitted to the experimental data, and the pseudo-second-order model well described the adsorption of PFOA on both PAC-325 and GAC-20x50. PAC-325 trended to adsorb PFOA faster than GAC-20x50 and testing with the shortest adsorption times (5 min) still yielded substantial PFOA removal (~80% for PAC-325). The adsorption isotherms show that the adsorption capacity of PAC-325 was 0.80 mmol/g, which is 83 % higher than that for GAC-20x50 (0.13 mmol/g), according to the Langmuir fitting.
- Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA),
- coconut shell activated carbons,
- adsorption,
- water treatment
Citation: Premrudee Kanchanapiya, Supachai Songngam, Thanapol Tantisattayakul. The Adsorption of Perfluorooctanoic Acid on Coconut Shell Activated Carbons[J]. AIMS Environmental Science, 2022, 9(2): 128-139. doi: 10.3934/environsci.2022010

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Abstract

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is one of Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that have increasingly attracted concerns due to their global distribution in environment, persistence, high bioaccumulation and toxicity. It is important to study the effective treatment to remove PFOA from contaminated water. The feasibility of using commercial coconut shell activated carbon produced in Thailand to remove PFOA from water was investigated with regard to their adsorption kinetics and isotherms of powder activated carbon (PAC-325) and granular activated carbon (GAC-20x50). Adsorption kinetic results show that the adsorbent size significantly affected the adsorption rate of PFOA, and GAC-20x50 required at least 100 h to achieve the equilibrium, much longer than 3 h for PAC-325. Two kinetic models were fitted to the experimental data, and the pseudo-second-order model well described the adsorption of PFOA on both PAC-325 and GAC-20x50. PAC-325 trended to adsorb PFOA faster than GAC-20x50 and testing with the shortest adsorption times (5 min) still yielded substantial PFOA removal (~80% for PAC-325). The adsorption isotherms show that the adsorption capacity of PAC-325 was 0.80 mmol/g, which is 83 % higher than that for GAC-20x50 (0.13 mmol/g), according to the Langmuir fitting.

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