The Potential of Single-Use Biomaterial Filters to Remediate PFAS from an Aqueous Medium

Abstract

Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are synthetically derived compounds consisting of a nonpolar carbon-fluorine chain and a polar head group. Significant worldwide attention has been paid to these compounds due to their tendency to bioaccumulate and their adverse health impacts. Various techniques, including reverse osmosis (RO), granular activated carbon (GAC), and ion-exchange resins (IXR), are available to remediate PFAS from aqueous solutions. However, these techniques can be expensive and are designed for industrial use rather than single-use applications. Biomaterials offer a viable, sustainable alternative to these expensive systems. Unlike traditional filtration systems, it is predicted that using biomaterials can be scaled to function as single-use products, such as coffee filtration. A precursor for this study has shown promising results. As a result, biomaterial filters were reconstructed and designed to be compared with non-biomaterial filters that are embedded in the current technique, as well as various arrangements of biomaterials for enhancements of the proposed filters. Results indicate that high-lignin, low hexeneuronic acid (HexA) hemp pulp was successful at PFAS remediation, specifically for short-chain PFAS compounds. Additionally, hydrochar samples created from pine and hemp feedstocks and SCOBY in tandem with this hemp pulp sample were as effective as or more effective than GAC at PFAS filtration. These results provide a platform for future research to examine biomaterials for their potential to develop single-use filters for PFAS removal.