Short Chain PFAS Adsorption via AimmSorb

PROJECT SUMMARY Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS, typically called “forever chemicals”) are a family of over 9,200 chemicals with research indicating a link between exposure to PFAS and various adverse human health outcomes. PFAS is a HUGE problem, estimated to be found in the blood of 97% of Americans. Traditional PFAS used were PFOA and PFOS and could be removed from water via two primary water treatment options: activated carbon (AC) and resins. These two PFAS were generally phased out once their hazardous nature was discovered and they were replaced by shorter PFAS. These shorter PFAS (named short chain—SC, or ultra short chain—USC) are more difficult to remove from the water than their longer chained counterparts. This makes current treatment methods of AC and resins much less effective at removing them. Thus, new approaches must be found that are more effective. In this study AIMM will continue to optimize our proprietary, patent pending innovation, AimmSorb, to maximize the effective PFAS capture range, speed and length of use. This proposed work will enable carbons to be specifically tuned to target PFAS-- improving PFAS removal speed, the ability to remove long chain, SC and USC PFAS and demonstrating the ability of AIMM’s materials to be reused/regenerated--all verified as commercial pain points through AIMM’s customer discovery. Testing will be conducted to evaluate the adsorption performance for traditional longer chain, SC and USC PFAS. Verification of AimmSorb as a reusable sorbent via thermal regeneration will also be conducted. Targets for ideal temperature and dwell time will be used that are of interest to industry and have been demonstrated to be viable through experience and the literature. The heart of the AimmSorb innovation, is a carbon powder, as is AC, and therefore compatible with established AC water treatment engineering and processing routes and filter forms that are already being used. This aids in ease of commercialization and customer familiarity while performing at a much more successful level than current filters. AIMM plans to use the successful results of the proposed Phase I work to serve as a foundation for a Phase II effort centered around the eventual fabrication of commercial-ready PFAS treatment systems.