Fluorocarbon pollutants in water. Molecular insights into removal strategies

Fluorinated surfactants, which pertain to the group of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), were originally thought to be innocuous, but are now recognized as highly persistent and environmentally bioaccumulative compounds with adverse health effects.

Owing to their widespread use and exceptional chemical and thermal stability, PFAS contaminants can be found in almost all sources of water worldwide, including drinking water, as conventional water treatment methods cannot remove them effectively. At present, the most promising technologies that target fluorinated surfactants are based on adsorption approaches.

However, the molecular understanding of the adsorption of fluorinated surfactants and the characterization of their adsorbed structures, both necessary to gain further mechanistic insights and develop improved treatment technologies, are surprisingly poor.

This project aims to improve the knowledge base of PFAS adsorption mechanisms by obtaining systematic evidence on the molecular features of adsorbed fluorosurfactants and aggregates on surfaces of relevance to currently proposed and future technological solutions.

Specific molecular information from the interfacial region will be obtained using advanced techniques, mainly vibrational sum frequency, TIR Raman, F-19 NMR spectroscopies, and by measuring surface forces in thin liquid films. The results will stimulate the development of new adsorbent systems and theoretical and simulation studies of PFAS.