Highly effective adsorption removal of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) from aqueous solution using calcined layer-like...

To study the influence factors of calcined layer-like Mg-Al hydrotalcites nanosheets adsorbing perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in aqueous solution, Mg-Al hydrotalcite (HMA) nanosheets were prepared by one-step hydrothermal synthesis. The effect of calcination temperature on adsorption properties and structure of HMA (CHMA-x, x means different calcination temperature) was investigated. The prepared samples were systematically characterized by the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TG), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), and nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms. The adsorption isotherms and kinetics showed the adsorption equilibrium reached within 2 h, and the factors, such as adsorption dosage, pH, and cycles were investigated. It was found that CHMA with 600 °C displayed a uniformly morphology, higher surface area about 106.3 m²/g, and excellent adsorption properties (1969 mg/g). The equilibrium adsorption data perfectly fitted to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model (R² = 0.999) and the Freundlich model (R² = 0.994). The main mechanism of CHMA adsorbing PFOA might be the "memory effect." This study provided a new insight to prepare highly effective adsorbents in water treatment.