Graduation Semester and Year
Summer 2026
Language
English
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering
Department
Civil Engineering
First Advisor
Dr. Hyeok Choi
Second Advisor
Dr. Melanie Sattler
Third Advisor
Dr. Srinivas Prabakar
Fourth Advisor
Dr. Un-Jung Kim
Abstract
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent environmental contaminants widely used in industrial and consumer products due to their unique physicochemical properties. Their resistance to degradation, potential for bioaccumulation, and associated adverse health effects have prompted increasing regulatory attention, including the establishment of drinking water standards for six PFAS compounds by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2024.
Current PFAS treatment technologies are often energy-intensive and costly or generate secondary waste streams requiring further management. Meanwhile, this research investigated transition metal-catalyzed advanced oxidation processes for PFAS decomposition in water under ambient conditions. Previous studies demonstrated effective degradation of perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs) using the persulfate/silver (PS/Ag⁺) system whereas perfluorosulfonic acids (PFSAs) still exhibited greater resistance to the treatment system. The performance of many other alternative metal–oxidant systems and the influence of metal oxidation states on PFAS degradation were poorly understood,
As a result, this study systematically evaluated various transition metal–oxidant combinations to identify working systems capable of promoting PFAS decomposition in water under ambient conditions. A range of transition metals, including cobalt (Co), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), palladium (Pd), ruthenium (Ru), and silver (Ag) in different oxidation states was investigated for their ability to activate hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), peroxymonosulfate (PMS), and PS, generating different reactive species such as sulfate radicals and hydroxyl radicals that facilitated PFAS decomposition. Experimental conditions were optimized by varying oxidant and catalyst concentrations to identify the most effective metal–oxidant systems. The performance of the effective metal–oxidant system was then evaluated using PFAS compounds with varying carbon-chain lengths and functional groups to assess structure-dependent decomposition behavior and treatment effectiveness.
Then, this study examined if a second metal added as co-catalyst to the metal–oxidant systems could enhance PFAS decomposition through synergistic oxidant activation. Paired transition metals using Co, Pb, Ni, Cu, Mn, Fe, Zn, Pd, Ru, and Ag in different oxidation states were evaluated to determine if synergistic metal interactions improved radical generation and PFAS decomposition relative to single-metal systems. Further studies were conducted to investigate the effects of oxidant and catalyst concentrations, metal oxidation states, and reactive radical species on PFAS decomposition kinetics. Radical scavenging experiments were performed to identify the relative contributions of hydroxyl and sulfate radicals, providing insight into PFAS degradation pathways, oxidant activation mechanisms, and the factors governing transition metal-catalyzed PFAS decomposition in water under ambient conditions. Finally, limitations of this study were described and thus a few further studies were recommended in near future.
Keywords
PFAS decomposition, Transition metal catalysis, Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), Persulfate activation, Reactive radical species, Synergistic co-catalysis
Disciplines
Civil Engineering | Environmental Engineering
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Devadasan, Malu Deav, "EFFECTS OF METALS ON PERSULFATE ACTIVATION FOR THE DECOMPOSITION OF PFAS" (2026). Civil Engineering Dissertations. 14.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/civilengineering_dissertations2/14