Rapid and efficient pfas extraction by biocompatible polymer coacervate adsorbents for water treatment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025042782-A1
Application number	US-202418793055-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 2, 2024
Priority date	Aug 4, 2023
Publication date	Feb 6, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method of removing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from water includes adding a polymer coacervate adsorbent including oppositely charged polyelectrolytes to contaminated water. The two oppositely charged polyelectrolytes are biocompatible. An adsorbent for removal of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from contaminated water includes oppositely charged polyelectrolytes. The polyelectrolytes include polyacrylic acid (PAA) and/or polyethylene oxide (PEO) according to an example.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An adsorbent for removal of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from contaminated water, comprising:
a polymer coacervate material including oppositely charged polyelectrolytes.

2 . The adsorbent of claim 1 , wherein the oppositely charged polyelectrolytes are biocompatible.

3 . The adsorbent of claim 1 , wherein the oppositely charged polyelectrolytes comprise a polycation covalently bonded with a polyanion.

4 . The adsorbent of claim 1 , wherein the polyelectrolytes include polyacrylic acid (PAA) and/or polyethylene oxide (PEO).

5 . The adsorbent of claim 4 , wherein the PAA is PAA 400k or PAA 450k or PAA 4000k .

6 . The adsorbent of claim 4 , wherein the PEO is PEO 100k .

7 . The adsorbent of claim 1 , wherein the polyelectrolytes include PAA of 0.1 mM and PEO of 1 mM.

8 . The adsorbent of claim 1 , wherein the polyelectrolytes include PAA of 0.0025 mM and PEO of 1 mM.

9 . The adsorbent of claim 1 , in the form of a powder or a membrane.

10 . A method of removing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from water comprising,
adding a polymer coacervate adsorbent comprising oppositely charged polyelectrolytes to contaminated water.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the oppositely charged polyelectrolytes are biocompatible.

12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the oppositely charged polyelectrolytes comprise polyacrylic acid (PAA) and/or polyethylene oxide (PEO).

13 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising extracting the PFAS from the contaminated water by liquid-liquid separation with the polymer coacervate adsorbent, thereby forming a polymer dense coacervate phase and a purified supernatant aqueous solution.

14 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the polymer coacervate adsorbent is a pre-made PEO-PAA coacervate powder prepared by mixing 0.1 of PAA and 1 mM of PEO in aqueous solution.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the PAA is PAA 450k and the PEO is PEO 100k .

16 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the polymer coacervate adsorbent is a pre-made PEO-PAA coacervate powder prepared by mixing 0.0025 mM of PAA and 1 mM of PEO in aqueous solution.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the PAA is PAA 4000k and the PEO is PEO 100k .

18 . The method of claim 10 , wherein adding the polymer coacervate adsorbent includes adding a first powder of a polycation and a second powder of a polyanion separately from the first powder of the polycation to the contaminated water.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the first powder of the polycation includes PEO and the second powder of the polyanion includes PAA.

20 . A polymer coacervate composition for treating contaminated water, comprising:
two oppositely charged biocompatible polyelectrolytes.

Assignees

• Univ Wayne State

Inventors

• Zhu Yingxi Elaine
• Hatami Ali

Classifications

• C02F2101/36

  containing halogen · CPC title

• B01J20/262

  obtained otherwise than by reactions only involving carbon to carbon unsaturated bonds, e.g. obtained by polycondensation (macromolecular compounds obtained otherwise than by reactions only involving unsaturated carbon-to-carbon bonds per se C08G) · CPC title

• B01J20/261

  obtained by reactions only involving carbon to carbon unsaturated bonds (macromolecular compounds obtained by reactions only involving carbon-to-carbon unsaturated bonds per se C08F) · CPC title

• B01J20/264

  derived from different types of monomers, e.g. linear or branched copolymers, block copolymers, graft copolymers · CPC title

• C02F1/5272 Primary

  using specific organic precipitants · CPC title