Adsorption of perfluorinated compounds on aminated rice husk prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization

Adsorption is considered as an effective method to remove perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) from aqueous solution. In this study, an aminated rice husk (RH) adsorbent was successfully prepared through surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and subsequent amination reaction, and it was used to remove perfluorooctanoate (PFOA), perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) from aqueous solution. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis verified the presence of grafted polymer brushes and amine groups on the RH surface. The zero point of zeta potential of aminated RH was 8.5, which facilitated the sorption of anionic PFCs on the positively charged adsorbent at pH below 8.5. The sorption equilibria of PFOA, PFBA and PFOS were achieved within 5 h, 3 h and 9 h, respectively, faster than the reported porous adsorbents. Sorption isotherms showed that the adsorption capacities of PFOA, PFBA and PFOS on the aminated RH at pH 5.0 were 2.49, 1.70 and 2.65 mmol g−1, respectively. Sorption behavior and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis confirmed that the electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions were involved in the sorption process, and the micelles and hemi-micelles of PFOA and PFOS may form on the adsorbent surface.

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► Aminated rice husk is successfully prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization.
► This novel sorbent has fast and high sorption capacity for PFOS, PFOA and PFBA.
► Electrostatic interaction is mainly responsible for the sorption.