04/30/2025
By Kwok Fan Chow

The Kennedy College of Science, Department of Chemistry, invites you to attend a Ph.D. Research Proposal defense by Menal Almurani entitled “Cationic Polymeric Sorbents for Removal of PFOA from Aqueous Environments.”

Degree: Doctoral
Location: Olney, Room 518
Date: Friday, May 9, 2025
Time: 11 a.m.

Committee Chair: Prof. Yuyu Sun, Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Committee Members:

  • Prof. Kwok-Fan Chow, Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Prof. James Reuther, Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Prof. Pengyuan Liu, Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Abstract:
The aim of this proposal is to achieve effective removal of Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) from aqueous solution by utilizing cationic Activated Carbon Fabric (ACF). The new system should be able to sorb PFOA and maintain it within the system. ACF has been oxidized using hydrogen peroxide and successfully reacted further with polydopamine and polyethyleneimine to introduce cationic amino groups. After oxidation, there is an increase in -COOH on the surface of the fabric which is then modified by using polydopamine to introduce reactive carbonyl (aldehyde and ketone) groups. The modified ACF was then reacted with polyethyleneimine (PEI) to increase its capabilities in adsorbing PFOA due to the increased amount of positively charged amines on PEI. The morphology was observed using SEM. Surface functional groups, BET, FT-IR, and pore size distribution pre and post treatment of the functionalized AFC were investigated. The sorption and desorption behaviors of the ACF against PFOA before and after the functionalization treatments were studied in detail. Future work will investigate the effects of temperature, pH value, and contents of PEI on the sorption and desorption of PFOA. We will also further enhance the ACF by applying different cationic coatings such as quaternized PEI and/or quaternized chitosan to establish the structure-property relationships of new sorbents in the removal and retention of POFA.

All interested students and faculty members are invited to attend.