Date of Graduation

Spring 5-23-2026

Document Access

Project/Capstone - Global access

Degree Name

Master of Science in Environmental Management (MSEM)

College/School

College of Arts and Sciences

Department/Program

Environmental Management

First Advisor

Stephanie Siehr

Second Advisor

Amalia Kokkinaki

Abstract

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) consist of thousands persistent environmental contaminants of increasing concern due to their toxicity, mobility, and resistance to conventional water and wastewater treatment. This paper examines how PFAS chain-length influences membrane performances during wastewater treatment, focusing on rejection efficiency, hydraulic performances, fouling behavior, and membrane morphological changes. Pressure-driven membranes are the main treatment technology being evaluated in this report, composed of microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF), and reverse osmosis (RO). Comparative analysis revealed that long-chain PFAS are generally removed more efficiently than short-chain analogues, with high-pressure membranes outperformed low-pressure systems for both chain length classifications. Short-chain PFAS presented unique challenges due to their mobility and lower hydrophobicity, resulting in lower rejection rate and increased risk of breakthrough, especially for low-pressure membrane system through size exclusion. However, modifications of low-pressure membranes are found to exhibit competitive rejection efficiency, presenting the potential for full-scale adaptation. Removal mechanisms are also discussed to emphasize and tighten the knowledge on how long-chain PFAS rejects better than short-chain, and its contribution to the difference in performance for each membrane technologies. This paper adopts the Fuzzy-TOPSIS Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) framework, coupled with synthesized analysis to investigate suitable membrane technology and emphasize the need for tailored approaches based on PFAS properties, membrane characteristics, operational conditions, and cost. Fuzzy-TOPSIS analysis ranked modified-UF at first place, with extremely small margin separating it from other technologies. The framework was adopted to preserve the range-based and linguistic nature of performance data reported across literature and pre-established experimental data. Key knowledge gaps and future research directions are identified to guide the development of robust water and wastewater treatment strategies for diverse and constant growing PFAS profiles.

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Available for download on Friday, May 21, 2027

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