American scientists from the Rochester Institute in New York have developed a new electrochemical method to purify water from per- and polyfluoroalkyl compounds (PFAS), also known as “forever chemicals”. The study was published in the scientific journal magazine Journal of Catalysis (JOC).
PFAS are a group of substances that are highly resistant to degradation and can persist in the environment for long periods of time. They are used in a variety of products such as clothing, food packaging, firefighting foam and others.
PFAS can be harmful to the environment and human and animal health. They can accumulate in soil, water and living organisms and cause various health problems such as developmental disorders and kidney cancer in babies.
The researchers focused on perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), which was once widely used to make pollution-resistant products but is now banned in many parts of the world due to its harm to the environment and human health.
Scientists have created nanocatalysts by attaching lithium hydroxide nanoparticles to hydrophilic copy paper, providing a low-cost, high surface area substrate. Using a ready-made catalyst, they completely neutralized PFOS by removing the fluorine in it.
According to experts, the proposed method is approximately 100 times cheaper than water purification using boron-doped diamonds.
The researchers stated that effective technologies to clean the environment from PFAS would make it possible to avoid completely abandoning these substances due to their beneficial use in industry. So instead of banning them, we need to find a way to make “forever chemicals” biodegradable and safe.
Physicists before to create A way to destroy “infinite chemicals” with powerful beams of energy.