The adsorption of PFOS by activated sludge and EPS-removed sludge was conducted to investigate the adsorption mechanism of activated sludge and the effect of EPS on this adsorption process. The experimental results indicated that the adsorption process of PFOS onto activated sludge and EPS-removed sludge fitted the pseudo-second-order model, with equilibrium absorption capacities (qe) of 0.46 mg·g-1 and 0.38 mg·g-1, respectively. The sorption isotherm accorded well with the Freundlich, Langmuir, and Temkin models. Chemisorption played an important role in the adsorption of PFOS on the activated sludge. Ca2+ and Cu2+ contributed to PFOS adsorption on the activated sludge through an ion-bridging effect. Adsorption efficiency was better on the normal activated sludge compared to the EPS-removed sludge. FTIR and XPS were used to analyze the variations of functional groups before and after sorption. The results showed that the amount of functional groups such as hydroxyl, carboxyl, and amidogen on EPS-removed sludge was lower; however, these functional groups were found to have participated in the PFOS adsorption process. It is concluded that carboxyl and amidogen contained in protein of EPS provided reaction sites for PFOS adsorption, thus EPS components played a vital role in PFOS adsorption on the activated sludge.
Keywords: PFOS; activated sludge; adsorption mechanism; extracellular polymeric substance(EPS); functional groups.