(NAT) PFAS - CAPTURED AND DESTROYED

Proposed methods of removing toxic ‘forever chemicals’ from water have either only trapped the chemicals or broken them down. A new study has demonstrated a method that does both – quickly and cheaply.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, more commonly called PFAS or ‘forever chemicals,’ are a group of synthetic chemicals that resist degradation – hence the forever moniker – and pose a risk to the environment and us.

Now, chemical engineers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada have come up with an all-in-one solution for trapping and breaking down these forever chemicals into harmless components. Their method is explained in a recently published study.

“PFAS are notoriously difficult to break down, whether they’re in the environment or in the human body,” said Dr Johan Foster, an associate professor of chemical and biological engineering in UBC’s faculty of applied science and the study’s co-corresponding author. “Our system will make it possible to remove and destroy these substances in the water supply before they can harm our health.”

Activated carbon is commonly used to absorb PFAS from drinking water due to its high surface area and strong affinity for organic compounds. However, one drawback of activated carbon is that additional steps are needed to dispose of the adsorbed chemicals. So, the researchers turned their minds to developing a means of destroying them in situ.

Photocatalytic degradation is a promising way of breaking down PFAS using light energy. Various metal oxides have emerged in recent years as potential options for eliminating the chemicals under UV irradiation. To that end, the researchers developed an iron oxide/graphemic carbon hybrid photocatalyst and found that it trapped PFAS chemicals and broke them down into harmless components. More of this article (New Atlas) - link - diagram - link - more like this (pfas) - link