Advancing electrochemical oxidation technique for complete PFAS degradation

A new PhD-student project has been granted by the Wallenberg Initiative Material Science for Sustainability (WISE).

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have become pervasive environmental contaminants due to their extensive past and ongoing use in industry and consumer products. The urgent need for effective PFAS management is driven by a lack of robust remediation technologies. This project aims to advance electrochemical oxidation (EO) techniques to achieve complete degradation - or mineralization - of PFAS.

While EO has shown high efficiency in degrading PFAS, it does not consistently result in complete mineralization, meaning the transformation of PFAS into final, inert products like fluoride ions (F-) and carbon dioxide (CO₂). Success in EO treatment depends on a thorough understanding of all degradation products and achieving a complete fluorine mass balance.

In this project, we aim to evaluate the effectiveness of so far best-known electrode materials, namely boron-doped diamond (BDD) and titanium suboxide (TSO) electrodes - for PFAS degradation using first synthetic samples and then PFAS-contaminated wastewater and leachates in the laboratory. Through systematic experimentation, we will optimize the EO process to accurately quantify fluorine mass balance and characterize the degradation products as affected by the selected electrode materials.

Start - WISE Länk till annan webbplats.