Advanced electrochemical and photochemical technologies for the treatment of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in water | Tecnologías electroquímicas y fotoquímicas avanzadas para el tratamiento de sustancias poli- y perfluoroalquílicas (PFASs) en agua

RESUMEN: La contaminación del agua se ha convertido en un desafío global que perjudica la salud física y ambiental de millones de personas. Los recursos hídricos están actualmente amenazados debido al incremento de contaminantes emergentes de origen antropogénico procedentes tanto de sectores industriales como de otro tipo de fuentes contaminantes. Entre estos contaminantes, las sustancias poli- y perfluoroalquílicas (PFASs) son compuestos altamente persistentes que han sido liberados al medio ambiente debido a su amplio uso en numerosas aplicaciones industriales y domésticas desde hace más 50 años. La alta resistencia de los PFASs a los tratamientos de agua convencionales hace necesario desarrollar tecnologías avanzadas capaces de tratar las emisiones de PFASs y aguas contaminadas, con bajo costo y alta eficiencia. Las estrategias fotoquímicas y electroquímicas han surgido como tecnologías prometedoras para la eliminación de PFASs, debido a su capacidad de mineralización de la materia orgánica. Esta tesis tiene como objetivo estudiar la aplicación de diferentes tecnologías electroquímicas y fotoquímicas para la remediación de PFAS en agua.

ABSTRACT: Water pollution is a crucial global challenge that harm physical and environmental health of millions of people. Water resources are currently threatened due to the increased presence of anthropogenic emerging contaminants from industrial and non-industrial sectors. Among these contaminants, poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are persistent compounds that have been extensively released to the environment due to their use in a wide variety of industrial and household applications for more than 50 years. The inherent resistance of PFASs to conventional water treatments makes necessary to develop advanced technologies to deal with PFASs emissions and polluted water, with low-cost and high efficiency. Electrochemical and photochemical strategies have become promising technologies for PFAS removal due to the capability to mineralize organic matter. This thesis aims at the study on the application of different electrochemical and photochemical technologies for the remediation of PFAS in water.

The research described in this thesis was conducted at the Environmental and Bioprocess Technologies (EBT) Research Group in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Cantabria. This research was financially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the European Regional Development Fund through the projects: CTM2013-44081-R (RETOS-FEDER, UE), “Development of innovative technologies for the treatment of perfluorinated contaminants in water”; and, CTM2016-75509-R (RETOSFEDER, UE), “Advanced strategies for the integration of membranes and electrocatalytic and photocatalytic processes for the elimination of persistent pollutants”. The author of the thesis would also like to express her gratitude to the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness for the FPI postgraduate research grant (BES-2014-071045) and a predoctoral mobility grant for conducting short stays in R&D Centers (EEBB-I-17- 12384). This research stay was developed in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Colorado School of Mines (United States of America) over the period June-September 2017, under the supervision of Professor Timothy J. Strathmann. Due to all of these, a warm thanks towards these institutions is extended.