Electrochemical treatment of perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctane sulfonate: Insights into mechanisms and application to groundwater treatment

Schaefer, Charles E.; Andaya, Christina; Burant, Aniela; Condee, Charles W.; Urtiaga, Ane; Strathmann, Timothy J.; Higgins, Christopher P.

doi:10.1016/j.cej.2017.02.107

Cited by 181 publications

(133 citation statements)

References 34 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

123

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…And while cathodic reduction of DBPs is possible, it is often too slow to lead to significant removal. If direct discharge of the AEO effluent to a wastewater treatment plant is not permissible, DBPs may be removed in a downstream biological reduction (Schaefer et al ). Additional treatment steps like air stripping or sorption to activated carbon may still be needed for CVOC removal prior to discharge to surface waters or groundwater.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Due to its nontrivial cost, the niche for AEO is the treatment of (bio)refractory organic contaminants such as 1,4‐DX or PFAS (Schaefer et al , ). However, compared to many other AOPs, AEO processes offer attractive advantages such as the absence of the need for auxiliary chemical addition, higher energy efficiency, amenability to automation, and implementability both ex situ and in situ (Sale et al ; Sirés et al ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Pilot‐Scale Electrochemical Treatment of a 1,4‐Dioxane Source Zone

Blotevogel¹,

Pijls²,

Scheffer³

et al. 2018

Groundwater Monitoring Rem

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Electrochemical treatment is a promising emerging technology in which direct current is applied to drive the degradation of aqueous contaminants. Several bench‐scale studies have demonstrated the capability of electrochemical oxidation to fully mineralize refractory organics such as pesticides and perfluorinated compounds. However, insights into large‐scale design and field performance are critically lacking. Here, we designed six pilot‐scale reactors and tested their performance and efficiency for the treatment of groundwater contaminated with 1,4‐dioxane (1,4‐DX) at concentrations exceeding 1000 mg/L. Anode surface area‐normalized degradation rates increased with increasing potential applied, while the process was more energy‐efficient per mass unit removed at low potentials. While not all 1,4‐DX was completely mineralized, the detected ring‐opening intermediates are known to be readily biodegradable. Analyses of potential by‐products from chloride oxidation revealed the generation of chloromethanes and perchlorate at low mg/L concentrations. Towards the end of the 8.5‐month pilot test, decreasing currents and degradation rates indicated progressing passivation of the electrodes, likely due to cathodic carbonate precipitation and/or poisoning by the uniquely high organic carbon load of this source zone groundwater. The findings of our study demonstrate that electrochemical groundwater remediation is a capable approach for the treatment of persistent organic pollutants. Our pilot‐scale test provides practitioners with a basis for evaluating its efficiency under site‐specific conditions and collecting critical performance metrics for technology scale‐up.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pilot‐Scale Electrochemical Treatment of a 1,4‐Dioxane Source Zone

Blotevogel¹,

Pijls²,

Scheffer³

et al. 2018

Groundwater Monitoring Rem

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…, ), electrochemical treatment (Schaefer et al. ; Soriano et al ; Schaefer et al ; Pica et al. ; Schaefer et al ), and sonolysis (Vecitis et al ; Campbell et al.…”

Section: Considerations For Available Pfas‐relevant Destruction Technmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The first (primary) is a direct electron transfer at the surface of the anode (Zhuo et al ). This makes the anode a design parameter, with many sources suggesting that boron‐doped diamond anodes are more advantageous than mixed metal oxide anodes due to their commercial availability, high reactivity, low adsorptivity, and ability to defluorinate a wide range of PFAS (Trautmann et al ; Schaefer et al ; Soriano et al ; Schaefer et al ; Schaefer et al ). This direct electron transfer from the PFAS molecule to the anode is theorized to be a sequential defluorination process that may generate short‐chain PFAAs (Gomez‐Ruiz et al ).…”

Section: Considerations For Available Pfas‐relevant Destruction Technmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding and Managing the Potential By‐Products of PFAS Destruction

Horst

McDonough

Ross

et al. 2020

Groundwater Monitoring Rem

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Electrochemical treatment refers to direct electron transfer from an anode to a molecule within an electrochemical cell designed with an anode, cathode, and electrolyte. Electrochemical cells can be divided or undivided, have demonstrated effectiveness for PFOA/PFOS at current densities of 1 to 50 mA/cm 2 , and use various custom‐synthesized mixed metal oxide anodes (Schaefer et al ; Urtiaga et al ; Gomez‐Ruiz et al ; Schaefer et al ). The materials of construction of an anode can have a meaningful influence on electrochemical treatment performance because the PFAS interaction at the surface of the anode constitutes the destructive mechanism.…”

Section: The Next Generation Of Water Treatment Technology For Pfasmentioning

confidence: 99%