Biological adsorbent for purification of PFAS chemicals : A comparative study of biochar and Biosorbe for effective purification of PFAS chemicals

The project studies whether Biosorbes filter material and activated carbon can purify water from PFAS chemicals. Previous research shows that activated carbon serves well as adsorbent for purification of PFAS chemicals. The activated carbon seems to be saturated quickly. The study investigates if Biosorbes material can be combined with activated carbon for development of existing purification technology. The PFAS solutions that have been in contact with the adsorbent materials were analyzed to evaluate the materials. To determine the PFAS concentration a photometric method was used. In this study, a modified analysis method was used where dichlormethane acted as a substitute for chloroform and several other changes.The two materials were compared, and different advantages occurred for the materials. Biosorbes material has a higher purification rate for pentadecaflourooctanic acid, a longer carbon-chain chemical. Biosorbe and biochar are not effective for shorter chain PFAS chemicals. The results for activated carbon match well with earlier research where purification of shorter chain PFAS chemicals is hard to achieve. Biosorbes material has good qualities for purification of PFAS chemicals. No saturation concentration was obtained for either activated carbon or Biosorbe, therefore, an optimal filter combination cannot be determined.