Jet Drop Enrichment: A Low-Cost Method for Simultaneous PFAS and Microplastics Removal from Drinking Water

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and fine microplastics (MPs, 1–10 μm) are emerging contaminants in drinking water that conventional treatment technologies struggle to remove. Here we developed a sustainable and low-cost approach that harnesses jet drops generated by bursting bubbles to collect pollutants, achieving simultaneous removal of PFAS and MPs. Our results show that both long-chain PFAS (PFOS, PFNA, PFDA, PFOA, PFHxS) and fine MPs become highly enriched at the air–water interface and are efficiently transferred into jet drops, yielding removal efficiencies up to 99% for long-chain PFAS and MPs. In contrast, short-chain PFAS exhibit lower removal because of their weaker surface activity. To address this limitation, we coupled an anion-exchange resin (AER) pretreatment with jet drop enrichment (JDE). The combined JDE+AER system raises short-chain PFAS removal to over 90% while cutting material use and costs. This work illuminates interfacial removal mechanisms and offers a scalable, economical, and environmentally benign option for advanced drinking water treatment.

全氟和多氟烷基物质（Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, PFAS）与细粒径微塑料（fine microplastics, MPs，粒径1–10 μm）均为饮用水中的新兴污染物，常规水处理技术难以对其实现有效去除。本研究开发了一种可持续且低成本的处理方法，利用气泡破裂产生的射流液滴捕集污染物，可同时实现PFAS与MPs的去除。研究结果表明，长链PFAS（全氟辛烷磺酸PFOS、全氟壬酸PFNA、全氟癸酸PFDA、全氟辛酸PFOA、全氟己烷磺酸PFHxS）与细粒径MPs均可在气液界面高度富集，并被高效转移至射流液滴中，对长链PFAS及MPs的去除率最高可达99%。与之相比，短链PFAS因表面活性较弱，去除率相对较低。为解决这一局限，本研究将阴离子交换树脂（anion-exchange resin, AER）预处理工艺与射流液滴富集（jet drop enrichment, JDE）技术进行耦合。耦合后的JDE+AER系统可将短链PFAS的去除率提升至90%以上，同时降低了材料消耗与处理成本。本研究阐明了气液界面的污染物去除机制，同时为饮用水深度处理提供了一种可规模化、经济环保的技术方案。