Per-
and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are man-made chemicals
that are toxic and widely detected in the environment, including drinking
water sources. A cost-effective treatment process for PFASs is currently
not available. We developed reusable hydrogel sorbents to remove long-
and short-chain perfluoroalkyl acids and 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoro-2-(heptafluoropropoxy)propanoic
acid (GenX), which is are emerging PFAS. Through fluoridation and
amination of poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA), the newly synthesized
sorbents can sorb the five targeted PFASs (perfluorooctanoic acid
(PFOA), perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorobutanesulfonic
acid (PFBS), and perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA) and GenX) to different
degrees from aqueous solution. Aminated PEGDA showed the highest sorption
capacity for all five PFASs, particularly for PFBA and PFBS. The bifunctionalized
PEGDA showed higher capacities for PFOA and PFOS, suggesting that
both hydrophobic interactions and charges contribute to the sorption.
Both aminated and bifunctionalized sorbents can remove GenX from water,
with the highest sorption capacity of 98.7 μmol g aminated PEGDA
–1
within 6 h. The absorbed PFASs on the sorbents were
observed and characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy.
The spent sorbents were reusable after readily regenerated with 70%
methanol contained 1% NaCl.