Perfl uorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) is a persistent environmental pollutant, putting human health at risk. Therefore, in this

article, a novel composite was prepared by incorporating carbon black into chitosan and used as an adsorbent to effi ciently

remove PFOS from aqueous environments. The incorporation of carbon black into chitosan showed great modifi cation on

the structure of chitosan, which resulted in more porosity and higher surface area, resulting in better adsorption capacity.

The best carbon black/chitosan mass ratio under both acidic and neutral conditions was found to be 0.5, and the optimum

removal effi ciency under the optimum conditions (pH: 2, 0.3 g adsorbent dosage, 5 mg L −1 PFOS concentration, and 5 h

contact time) was found to be 92%. The FESEM and BET analysis resulted in greater porosity and more hollow structure

as well as enhanced specifi c surface area of the carbon black/chitosan beads (CBCHB) adsorbent in comparison to chitosan

beads (CHB). Freundlich isotherm model fi ts the equilibrium adsorption isotherm data better than the Langmuir model. The

maximum adsorption capacity ( q m ) under acidic conditions (pH: 2) was 359.38 mg g −1 . Furthermore, the CBCHB adsorbent

was capable of being reused after being washed 5 times and exhibiting a slight decline in removal effi ciency.