Microporous materials for the selective adsorption of perfluorinated surfactants

Promovendus/a: Matthias Van den Bergh

Promotor(en): Prof. dr. ir. Dirk De Vos, Dr. Steven Mullens

Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) are a class of persistent organic pollutants that are widely used in industry. Due to their toxicity and widespread occurrence in (drinking) water, food products and humans, the EU recently introduced environmental quality standards for the concentrations of the most relevant PFCs in natural waters. In this project, new strategies will be developed to efficiently treat PFC contaminated water streams. Several routes will be explored to develop microporous adsorbents that selectively accumulate fluorinated chemicals in the presence of competing organics. These adsorbents will also be studied for the catalysed degradation of PFCs, together with other, non-porous oxides or phosphates. A main challenge is to integrate both adsorptive and catalytic properties into a single material or mixture of materials, while preserving these properties during subsequent adsorption and regeneration cycles. Changes in the composition and (pore) structure of the adsorbent and catalyst during subsequent adsorption and regeneration cycles will be studied with advanced spectroscopic techniques.