Less Is More: Influence of Cross-Linking Agent Concentration on PFOS Adsorption in Chitosan
As a result of the continuous use of persistent per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), e.g., in aviation firefighting foams, contamination with PFAS has been found in soil, groundwater, and surface water around thousands of industrial and military installations. Due to their harmful (environmen...
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2024-11-01
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| author | Philipp Wittwer Philipp Roesch Christian Vogel Fabian Simon Lennart Gehrenkemper Ines Feldmann Franz-Georg Simon |
| author_facet | Philipp Wittwer Philipp Roesch Christian Vogel Fabian Simon Lennart Gehrenkemper Ines Feldmann Franz-Georg Simon |
| author_sort | Philipp Wittwer |
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| description | As a result of the continuous use of persistent per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), e.g., in aviation firefighting foams, contamination with PFAS has been found in soil, groundwater, and surface water around thousands of industrial and military installations. Due to their harmful (environmental) potential, further dispersion in the environment needs to be stopped, which can be achieved by appropriate absorption materials. In this work, the influence of the cross-linking agent epichlorohydrin (ECH) concentration on the perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) adsorption capacity of chitosan gel was investigated. It was found that higher ECH concentration during the cross-linking step decreases the PFOS adsorption capacity of the cross-linked chitosan gel from 0% to 4% ECH solution by about 15%. Using a concentration of 1%, ECH resulted still in an acid-stable material, and a maximum PFOS loading capacity of 4.04 mmol/g was obtained, one of the highest described in the literature. Furthermore, we used a rapid small-scale column test to compare the PFOS adsorption capacity of chitosan and activated carbon, each in both milled and unmilled form. Unmilled chitosan showed the highest PFOS adsorption capacity considering adsorption material dry masses (>0.9 and <0.4 mmol/g for both types of chitosan and activated carbon, respectively). Milled activated carbon proved to be the better adsorption material, considering the fixed volume of the adsorber (>99.9% PFOS adsorbed). Overall, the cross-linking agent concentration in chitosan is a crucial factor influencing its PFOS absorption potential. Our results feature cross-linked chitosan as an effective economic and ecologic alternative for PFOS adsorption in aqueous solutions. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-24f0ef80bbec4d9e99fb441c137b9595 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-24f0ef80bbec4d9e99fb441c137b95952024-12-13T16:22:58ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172024-11-0114231114510.3390/app142311145Less Is More: Influence of Cross-Linking Agent Concentration on PFOS Adsorption in ChitosanPhilipp Wittwer0Philipp Roesch1Christian Vogel2Fabian Simon3Lennart Gehrenkemper4Ines Feldmann5Franz-Georg Simon6Division 4.3 Contaminant Transfer and Environmental Technologies, BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Unter den Eichen 87, 12205 Berlin, GermanyDivision 4.3 Contaminant Transfer and Environmental Technologies, BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Unter den Eichen 87, 12205 Berlin, GermanyDivision 4.3 Contaminant Transfer and Environmental Technologies, BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Unter den Eichen 87, 12205 Berlin, GermanyDivision 1.1 Inorganic Trace Analysis, BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Richard-Willstätter-Straße 11, 12489 Berlin, GermanyDivision 1.1 Inorganic Trace Analysis, BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Richard-Willstätter-Straße 11, 12489 Berlin, GermanyDivision 4.2 Material-Microbiome Interactions, BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Richard-Willstätter-Straße 11, 12489 Berlin, GermanyDivision 4.3 Contaminant Transfer and Environmental Technologies, BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Unter den Eichen 87, 12205 Berlin, GermanyAs a result of the continuous use of persistent per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), e.g., in aviation firefighting foams, contamination with PFAS has been found in soil, groundwater, and surface water around thousands of industrial and military installations. Due to their harmful (environmental) potential, further dispersion in the environment needs to be stopped, which can be achieved by appropriate absorption materials. In this work, the influence of the cross-linking agent epichlorohydrin (ECH) concentration on the perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) adsorption capacity of chitosan gel was investigated. It was found that higher ECH concentration during the cross-linking step decreases the PFOS adsorption capacity of the cross-linked chitosan gel from 0% to 4% ECH solution by about 15%. Using a concentration of 1%, ECH resulted still in an acid-stable material, and a maximum PFOS loading capacity of 4.04 mmol/g was obtained, one of the highest described in the literature. Furthermore, we used a rapid small-scale column test to compare the PFOS adsorption capacity of chitosan and activated carbon, each in both milled and unmilled form. Unmilled chitosan showed the highest PFOS adsorption capacity considering adsorption material dry masses (>0.9 and <0.4 mmol/g for both types of chitosan and activated carbon, respectively). Milled activated carbon proved to be the better adsorption material, considering the fixed volume of the adsorber (>99.9% PFOS adsorbed). Overall, the cross-linking agent concentration in chitosan is a crucial factor influencing its PFOS absorption potential. Our results feature cross-linked chitosan as an effective economic and ecologic alternative for PFOS adsorption in aqueous solutions.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/14/23/11145persistent organic pollutants (POPs)adsorption materialper- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)remediationcombustion ion chromatography (CIC)perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) |
| spellingShingle | Philipp Wittwer Philipp Roesch Christian Vogel Fabian Simon Lennart Gehrenkemper Ines Feldmann Franz-Georg Simon Less Is More: Influence of Cross-Linking Agent Concentration on PFOS Adsorption in Chitosan Applied Sciences persistent organic pollutants (POPs) adsorption material per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) remediation combustion ion chromatography (CIC) perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) |
| title | Less Is More: Influence of Cross-Linking Agent Concentration on PFOS Adsorption in Chitosan |
| title_full | Less Is More: Influence of Cross-Linking Agent Concentration on PFOS Adsorption in Chitosan |
| title_fullStr | Less Is More: Influence of Cross-Linking Agent Concentration on PFOS Adsorption in Chitosan |
| title_full_unstemmed | Less Is More: Influence of Cross-Linking Agent Concentration on PFOS Adsorption in Chitosan |
| title_short | Less Is More: Influence of Cross-Linking Agent Concentration on PFOS Adsorption in Chitosan |
| title_sort | less is more influence of cross linking agent concentration on pfos adsorption in chitosan |
| topic | persistent organic pollutants (POPs) adsorption material per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) remediation combustion ion chromatography (CIC) perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/14/23/11145 |
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