Issue 2, 2023

Adsorption as a remediation technology for short-chain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from water – a critical review

Abstract

Because of their ubiquitous presence in the environment and their potential toxicity to human health, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have drawn great attention over the past few years. Current conventional drinking and wastewater treatment approaches fail to effectively remove these substances from aqueous media, motivating researchers to focus on using sorption, a simple and cost-effective method, to remove PFAS from contaminated water. This work aims to summarize and critically evaluate the sorption capacities of PFAS by a variety of natural and engineered sorbents, including carbonaceous materials, ion exchange resins, polymers, different natural materials and other engineered sorbent materials. The specific focus of this review is on the performance of these different materials in removing short-chain PFAS due to their high solubility and mobility in aqueous media. A treatment train optimizing the removal of these short-chain substances from water is proposed, and challenges and future recommendations are discussed.

Graphical abstract: Adsorption as a remediation technology for short-chain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from water – a critical review

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Critical Review
Submitted
16 9 2022
Accepted
08 12 2022
First published
08 12 2022

Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2023,9, 344-362

Author version available

Adsorption as a remediation technology for short-chain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from water – a critical review

H. Smaili and C. Ng, Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2023, 9, 344 DOI: 10.1039/D2EW00721E

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