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ABSTRACT
The main objective of this study was to find a cost-effective, efficient and environmentally-friendly solution to remove perfluorooctanic acid (PFOA) from groundwater by using Fe0 and MnO2 nanoparticles. The selected method was expected to be applicable to the remediation of PFOA-contaminated groundwater. Phytotoxicity of the nanoparticle treatment was studied to demonstrate the safe application of the nanomaterials. Zero-valent Fe (100 mg L−1) and MnO2 (100 mg L−1) nanoparticles, produced in our lab, were used to remove PFOA up to 10 mg L−1. The test was conducted under visible light with or without addition of 0.88 mol L−1 H2O2 in a pH range of 0.5–11.0 for a duration of 18 h. Using Fe nanoparticles, a higher percentage of PFOA was removed under extreme acidic environment of pH 0.5 than under the basic environment of pH 11.0, and a minimum removal rate was reached under the neutral environment. The Fe nanoparticles were more efficient than the MnO2 nanoparticles at pH 0.5 with a removal rate of 69.7% and 89.7% without and with H2O2 addition, respectively. Phytotoxicity study showed that the treatment by Fe nanoparticles under mild pH reduced the phytotoxicity of groundwater-associated PFOA to Arabidopsis thaliana. The Fe nanoparticles did not show negative effect to A. thaliana under the experimental conditions used in this study.
Acknowledgments
This study was sponsored by the Illinois Groundwater Association. The authors thank Jane Geisler-Lee from the Department of Plant Biology, SIU Carbondale for providing seeds of Arabidopsis thaliana, Zhezhen Fu from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, SIU Carbondale and SIU Image Center for conducting the SEM operation and Max Ehren Gemeinhardt from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, SIU for conducting the DLS operation.