J. Liu, Z. Liu, D. Rao, J. Gao,
University of California, Riverside,
United States
Keywords: PFAS, UV, 254 nm, degradation, hydrated electron, defluorination, water, wastewater
Summary:
The worldwide pollution and high toxicity of various PFAS compounds require complete, rapid, and cost-effective degradation of PFAS pollutants in water. Past research has various limitations regarding system performance, substrate scope, and mechanistic understanding. The public has called PFAS “forever chemicals”, and industrial practitioners considered most PFAS degradation methods cost-prohibitive. To address these challenges, we have advanced UV-based technologies that utilize inexpensive and safe chemicals to produce hydrated electrons as the key reactive species. We substantially improved the performance of PFAS destruction, lowered the EE/O below 1.5 kWh/m3, achieved rapid and near-complete defluorination in various real wastewaters through technology integration, and obtained deep mechanistic understandings. This presentation will show that practical PFAS destruction through existing redox processes and simple design is feasible.