Materials and sensors for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)
EMSL Project ID
51162
Abstract
Toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are known to be released into the environment from a number of anthropogenic sources. Because of their high chemical resistance and thermal stabilities, these molecules are routinely used in applications for the semiconductor and photolithography industries and found in fire extinguishers, firefighting foams, and fabric protectors. But their low volatility, high water solubility, and extreme resistance to degradation and continued regular use of such technologies has increased PFAS concentrations in ground water sites to several orders of magnitude higher than the US EPA health advisory level (HAL) for drinking water. We, at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), are designing nanoporous materials with selective affinity to capture of PFAS from aqueous media. This proposal aims to utilize EMSL state-of-the-art characterization facilities (NMR, XPS, HIM, Mossbauer, mass spectrometry) to elucidate the mechanism of the capture and their dependence on metal center, surface functionalities, and porosity of the capture probes.
Project Details
Project type
Limited Scope
Start Date
2019-12-01
End Date
2020-01-31
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator