Creation of silica-based sorbents for combined treatment of natural and wastewater from poly- and / or perfluorinated compounds

Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are very stable in terrestrial and aquatic media, and are, in addition, both toxic and bioaccumulative. These substances are therefore widely dispersed and cause massive pollution to the environment.

Cost-efficient highly porous hybrid organic-inorganic functional adsorbent materials can be used for rapid and complete removal of such pollutants.

In this application, we aim to produce mesoporous silica SBA-15 matrix grafted with alkyl amino-, phenyl-, carboxy groups to remove PFAS from aqueous solutions. The functional groups will be grafted onto SBA-15 by condensation of organosilanes.

The synthesized adsorbents will be studied by SEM, TEM, IR, low-temperature nitrogen sorption, and PXRD, solid-state and liquid 19F NMR spectroscopy, EDX and HPLC.

Synthesized materials should have a developed ordered structure, a high value of the specific surface, a sorption volume, a high concentration of sorption centers, which should be available for sorbed molecules. We will select optimal conditions to synthesize materials with high adsorption efficiency and rapid reaction kinetics.

The obtained results will open perspectives in producing adsorbents for facile extraction of polyfluorinated compounds.