ERASE-PFAS: Exploring efficient pilot-scale treatment of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and comingled chlorinated solvents in groundwater using magnetic nanomaterials

ERASE-PFAS：探索使用磁性纳米材料对地下水中的全氟烷基物质和多氟烷基物质以及混合氯化溶剂进行有效的中试规模处理

• 批准号: 2305729
• 负责人: Jia Liu
• 金额: $ 50万
• 依托单位: Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-08-15 至 2026-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2305729&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: ERASE; PFAS; Exploring; efficient; pilot

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are fluorinated organic chemicals that have been manufactured and used in numerous consumer products and industrial applications since the 1940s. PFAS are commonly referred to as “forever chemicals” due to their persistence, stability, and resistance to natural environmental degradation processes. In addition, PFAS have been shown to bioaccumulate in human tissues and aquatic organisms raising concerns about their toxicity and adverse impact on human and ecosystem health. During the last two decades, PFAS have been increasingly detected in groundwater aquifers which serve as sources of drinking water for many communities throughout the United States. In contaminated groundwater aquifers, PFAS are often found alongside other toxic chemicals such as chlorinated solvents including trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PCE). The overarching goal of this project is to design, evaluate, and optimize a novel two-phase dark-light reactor (DRL) for the ex-situ treatment of groundwater contaminated by mixtures of PFAS and chlorinated solvents using magnetic and photochemically active nanomaterials. The successful completion of this project will benefit society through the generation of fundamental knowledge to advance the development and deployment of efficient and sustainable technologies for the treatment and remediation of groundwater aquifers contaminated by mixtures of PFAS and chlorinated solvents. Additional benefits to society will be achieved through student education and training including the mentoring of three graduate students at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.In groundwater aquifers and subsurface formations, PFAS contaminants are often commingled with toxic chemicals such as chlorinated solvents including trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PCE). However, to date, limited research has been devoted to the treatment and remediation of groundwater aquifers contaminated by mixtures of PFAS and chlorinated solvents. In addition, there is a critical need for pilot-scale studies to demonstrate and validate the feasibility and field-scale applicability of promising PFAS groundwater remediation technologies that are being investigated in bench scale laboratory studies. The goal of this research is to develop, evaluate, and validate the field-scale applicability of an integrated sorption-photocatalytic process for the ex-situ treatment and remediation of groundwater contaminated by mixtures of PFAS and TCE/PCE. To advance this goal, the Principal Investigator (PI) and research team propose to design, evaluate, and optimize a two-phase dark-light reactor (DRL) that will utilize nanomaterials under darkness to sorb PFAS and partially destroy TCE/PCE followed by exposure of the nanomaterials to UV light to destroy the remaining sorbed PFS and TCE/PCE contaminants. The specific objectives of the research are to 1) synthesize and characterize nanoscale zero-valent iron/reduced graphene oxide nanohybrids using an innovative and scalable process ; 2) conduct bench scale lab studies to assess the impacts of environmental factors on the efficiency of the DLR to remove PFAS and TCE/PCE in contaminated groundwater using the nanomaterials that are synthesized in Objective 1, and 3) conduct pilot field studies to evaluate and optimize the effectiveness of the new DRL and nanomaterials for the ex-situ treatment and remediation of groundwater contaminated by mixtures of PFAS and TCE/PCE. To implement the educational and outreach goals of this project, the PI plans to leverage the Research Enriched Challenge (REACH) program at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale to recruit and mentor undergraduate female students to work on the project. In addition, the PI plans to engage with the US Geological Survey (USGS) and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to share the results of the research and discuss potential field applications/demonstrations of the new two-phase dark-light reactor at contaminated sites in the State of Illinois.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

全氟烷基物质和多氟烷基物质 (PFAS) 是氟化有机化学品，自 20 世纪 40 年代以来已在众多消费品和工业应用中生产和使用，由于其持久性、稳定性和耐天然性，PFAS 通常被称为“永久化学品”。此外，PFAS 已被证明会在人体组织和水生生物中生物累积，引起人们对其毒性以及对人类和生态系统健康的不利影响的担忧。在作为美国许多社区饮用水源的地下水含水层中，PFAS 经常与其他有毒化学物质一起被发现，例如三氯乙烯 (TCE) 和四氯乙烯 (PCE) 等氯化溶剂。该项目的目标是设计、评估和优化新型两相暗光反应器 (DRL)，用于异位处理被 PFAS 和 PFAS 混合物污染的地下水。该项目的成功完成将通过产生基础知识来推动有效和可持续技术的开发和部署，以处理和修复被 PFAS 和氯化混合物污染的地下水含水层，从而造福社会。通过学生教育和培训，包括指导南伊利诺伊大学卡本代尔分校的三名研究生，将给社会带来额外的好处。在地下水含水层和地下地层中，PFAS污染物通常与有毒化学物质混合，例如三氯乙烯 (TCE) 和四氯乙烯 (PCE) 等氯化溶剂。然而，迄今为止，针对 PFAS 和氯化溶剂混合物污染的地下水含水层的处理和修复研究有限。此外，迫切需要进行中试规模研究，以证明和验证正在研究的有前景的 PFAS 地下水修复技术的可行性和现场规模适用性本研究的目标是开发、评估和验证集成吸附光催化工艺在异位处理和修复受 PFAS 和 TCE/PCE 混合物污染的地下水中的适用性。为了推进这一目标，首席研究员（PI）和研究团队建议设计、评估和优化两相暗光反应器（DRL），该反应器将在黑暗下利用纳米材料吸附 PFAS 并部分破坏TCE/PCE，然后将纳米材料暴露在紫外线下，以破坏剩余吸附的 PFS 和 TCE/PCE 污染物。该研究的具体目标是 1) 使用创新方法合成和表征纳米级零价铁/还原氧化石墨烯纳米杂化物。和可扩展的过程；2) 进行实验室规模的研究，以评估环境因素对 DLR 使用以下方法去除受污染地下水中的 PFAS 和 TCE/PCE 的效率的影响：目标 1 和 3 中合成的纳米材料进行试点现场研究，以评估和优化新型 DRL 和纳米材料对 PFAS 和 TCE/PCE 混合物污染的地下水进行异位处理和修复的有效性。为了实现该项目的教育和推广目标，PI 计划利用南伊利诺伊大学卡本代尔分校的研究丰富挑战 (REACH) 计划来招募和指导本科女学生参与该项目。计划与美国地质调查局（USGS）和伊利诺伊州环境保护局（EPA）合作，分享研究结果，并讨论新型两相暗光反应堆在该州污染场地的潜在现场应用/示范该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。