(589e) Synthesis and Characterization of Fluorinated Magnetic Hydrogel Nanocomposites for PFAS Remediation in Aqueous Systems

Decades of use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in a multitude of consumer and industry-based products have led to a devastating amount of soil and water contamination. The chemical and thermal stability of PFAS have proved to be an especially daunting challenge from an environmental remediation standpoint. Presently, the only full-scale water treatment separates via sorption and uses non-selective materials such as activated carbon (AC) or mineral media which are extremely difficult and/or costly to regenerate. Developing effective and renewable remediation technologies that lead to PFAS free water sources are, therefore, a vital part of current research efforts. Research focused on selective sorption is becoming a more practical route for capture and removal from contaminated water systems. Novel materials based synthetic sorbents such as hydrogel composites have recently gained attention for remediation of these contaminants due to their ability to be functionalized to target PFAS sorption. Additionally, magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) embedded in the hydrogel matrix named as magnetic hydrogel nanocomposite enable energy to be delivered remotely to the material using an alternating magnetic field (AMF). This localized energy can be used to drive processes to enhance material performance, including disruption of binding interactions. This combination of functionalized hydrogel and MNPs addition could be a sustainable solution for PFAS removal via sorption and desorption. Herein, perfluoro monomer, 2,2,2-Trifluoroethyl acrylate (TFEA), based MNP embedded hydrogel nanocomposites were synthesized with the variation of TFEA and MNPs percentage in the composite. Physicochemical characterization, including thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and AMF heating were performed and confirmed MNP loading, and aqueous swelling was performed and confirmed TFEA addition. Finally, aqueous sorption studies of PFAS were performed to determine the affinity of two long chain PFAS compounds, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanoic sulfonic acid (PFOS), and two short-chain PFAS, perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA) and perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS). Significant binding of long chain PFAS was found and promising sorption of short chain PFAS were found.