PFAS removal from water using hydrotalcite and hydrotalcite nanoparticles

Poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances are anthropogenic chemicals. PFAS are a class of highly fluorinated synthetic chemicals known as “Forever chemicals” due to their persistence in the environment. They are frequently used in many households, industrial products, and firefighting foams. PFAS have been recognised as remarkably persistent in nature and highly soluble in the aquatic environment and have been linked with many damaging health effects, including carcinogenicity, endocrine disruption, and liver damage. Therefore, effective techniques are needed to remove the PFAS present in the environment.
Conventional methods such as activated carbon and/or ion exchange resins exhibited limitations such as reduced efficiency in the presence of dissolved organic matter and lack of selectivity to remove PFAS.
In this project, efficient ways of removing perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) such as PFOA and PFOS from the water will be investigated using different types of hydrotalcite (HT). These are also known as anionic clays and are a family of layered minerals. HT generally exhibit positive surface charges over a range of environmentally relevant pH conditions, making them suitable for the adsorptive removal of anionic pollutants. It will be synthesised by tailoring its adsorption properties to check the sorption of PFAS compared to the commercially available HTs. Computational methods such as molecular dynamics simulation and density functional theory will be used to check the surface interaction of PFAS and hydrotalcite. This project will also investigate the efficient degradation of sorbent intercalated with PFAS.