Treatment options for the removal and degradation of polyfluorinated chemicals

Abstract

This chapter deals with different treatment options for the removal or degradation of polyfluorinated chemicals (PFC). Adsorption on activated carbon and membrane filtration (nanofiltration and reverse osmosis) belongs to the state-of-the-art methods and effective separate resp. reject fluorinated compounds. Biological degradation and conventional oxidative techniques for pollutant control such as advanced oxidation (ozonation, UV/H2O2, Fenton process) seem not to be suitable for PFC degradation. New approaches for the oxidation of fluorinated chemicals are based on the formation of sulfate radical anions (e.g., by photolysis of peroxodisulfate), sonolysis, and electrolysis with boron-doped diamond electrodes. Some approaches regarding reductive treatment have been reported to degrade PFC. However, hardly any information about by-product formation and degradation efficiency under real conditions are available regarding these new oxidation and reduction techniques.