Electro-oxidation of perfluorooctanoic acid by carbon nanotube sponge anode and the mechanism

Abstract

As an emerging persistent organic pollutant (POPs), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) exists widely in natural environment. It is of particular significance to develop efficient techniques to remove low-concentration PFOA from the contaminated waters. In this work, we adopted a new material, carbon nanotube (CNT) sponge, as electrode to enhance electro-oxidation and achieve high removal efficiency of low-concentration (100μgL(-1)) PFOA from water. CNT sponge was pretreated by mixed acids to improve the surface morphology, hydrophilicity and the content of carbonyl groups on the surface. The highest removal efficiencies for low-concentration PFOA electrolyzed by acid-treated CNT sponge anode proved higher than 90%. The electro-oxidation mechanism of PFOA on CNT sponge anode was also discussed. PFOA is adsorbed on the CNT sponge rapidly increasing the concentration of PFOA on anode surface. When the potential on the anode is adjusted to more than 3.5V, the adsorbed PFOA undergoes electrochemically oxidation and hydrolysis to produce shorter-chain perfluorocarboxylic acids with less CF2 unit. The efficient electro-oxidation of PFOA by CNT sponge anode is due to the combined effect of adsorption and electrochemical oxidation. These findings provide an efficient method to remove actual concentration PFOA from water.

Keywords: Adsorption; Carbon nanotube sponge; Electro-oxidation; Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA).