Effect of effluent organic matter on the adsorption of perfluorinated compounds onto activated carbon

► The presence of EfOM significantly reduced the adsorption capacities and rates of PFCs. ► Low-molecular-weight EfOM compounds (30kDa) affect the adsorption through pore blockage or restriction effect. ► Changes in surface properties of PAC caused by preloaded EfOM could affect PFCs adsorption. Effect of effluent organic matter (EfOM) on the adsorption of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) onto powdered activated carbon (PAC) was quantitatively investigated at environmentally relevant concentration levels. The adsorption of both perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) onto PAC followed pseudo-second order kinetics and fitted the Freundlich model well under the given conditions. Intraparticle diffusion was found to be the rate-controlling step in the PFC adsorption process onto PAC in the absence and presence of EfOM. The presence of EfOM, either in PFC–EfOM simultaneous adsorption onto fresh PAC or in PFC adsorption onto EfOM-preloaded PAC, significantly reduced the adsorption capacities and sorption rates of PFCs. The pH of zero point of charge was found to be 7.5 for fresh PAC and 4.2 for EfOM-preloaded PAC, suggesting that the adsorbed EfOM imparted a negative charge on PAC surface. The effect of molecular weight distribution of EfOM on the adsorption of PFCs was investigated with two EfOM fractions obtained by ultrafiltration. The low-molecular-weight compounds (30kDa) had much less effect on PFC adsorption capacity.