R. Ozdemir, D. Young
framergy, Inc.,
United States
Keywords: drinking water, water quality, PFAS, at-home-detection
Summary:
In this innovation, framergy, Inc., in collaboration with Texas A&M University (TAMU), demonstrated a simple and low-cost method for detection of a broad range of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that can be employed as an at-home test kit. Compared to the state-of-the-art, this process is significantly more accessible to the general public, as it does not rely on expensive and complex analytical instrumentation, such as high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) or liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Specifically, this project leverages the unique properties of a novel class of nanostructured materials, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), and a readily available small molecule oxidant to achieve synergistic mineralization of PFAS to fluoride ions, which is readily quantified using a commercial fluoride ion detector. This innovation is funded by NIH's competitive National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences’ (NIEHS’s) SBIR Program under its Water Related Technologies area. This area focuses on Intervention Technologies for detecting and/or removing contaminants from drinking water, primarily for home use. PFAS are an unusually challenging class of contaminants to detect. Current technology typically relies on advanced analytical instruments, which are prohibitively expensive and require significant technical expertise to operate. Destructive and non-specific PFAS detection approaches, such as total organic fluorine assays, still require advanced instrumentation, as most methods to mineralize PFAS require harsh conditions such as high temperatures. Consequently, there is an urgent need for the development of new technologies that can reliably and non-selectively detect PFAS in a simple and inexpensive manner. framergy has successfully demonstrated the feasibility of PFAS mineralization using fluoride ion detection. A limitation of the method is that fluoride ion detection can only quantify completely mineralized PFAS. Peroxydisulfate (PDS) is a widely available and inexpensive species that can generate reactive oxygen species on irradiation with visible light, such as sulfate and hydroxyl radicals. Oxidation with visible light-activated PDS represents a PFAS destruction method that, when combined with framergy’s photocatalytic MOFs, synergistically achieves complete PFAS mineralization regardless of the length of the PFAS chain, making it a suitable complementary method to allow quantification of PFAS using fluoride ion detection. In this talk, framergy wishes to discuss its journey in developing an at-home test kit for the broad and non-selective detection of PFAS. The talk will provide details of the adsorptive and photocatalytic performance of framergy’s MOFs to achieve targeted adsorption of long-chain PFAS and better utilization of visible light for photodegradation of PFAS. The talk will then introduce the evaluation of the combined performance of MOFs and PDS for the mineralization of long-chain legacy PFAS and TOF measurements with a commercial fluoride ion detector. By participating in this conference and presentation session, framergy wishes to learn from subject matter experts, engage in customer discovery, validate its business model and network to be able to address regulation and market demand. Thank you for your kind attention and review of this abstract, we highly appreciate it.