Perfluoroalkyl
substances (PFASs) are highly toxic synthetic chemicals,
which are considered the most persistent organic contaminants in the
environment. Previous studies have demonstrated that hydrated electron
based techniques could completely destruct these compounds. However,
in the reactions, alkaline and anaerobic conditions are generally
required or surfactants are involved. Herein, we developed a simple
binary composite, only including PFAS and hydrated electron source
chemical. The system exhibited high efficiency for the utilization
of hydrated electrons to decompose PFASs. By comparing the degradation
processes of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in the presence of seven
indole derivatives with different chemical properties, we could conclude
that the reaction efficiency was dependent on not only the yield of
hydrated electrons but also the interaction between PFOA and indole
derivative. Among these derivatives, indole showed the highest degradation
performance due to its relatively high ability to generate hydrated
electrons, and more importantly, indole could form a hydrogen bonding
with PFOA to accelerate the electron transfer. Moreover, the novel
composite demonstrated high reaction efficiency even with coexisting
humic substance and in a wide pH range (4–10). This study would
deepen our understanding of the design of hydrated electron based
techniques to treat PFAS-containing wastewater.
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