A Novel Approach for the At Home Detection of PFAS in Drinking Water

Project Summary/Abstract framergy, Inc., in collaboration with Texas A&M University (TAMU), will demonstrate 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, the proposed process will be 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 can be readily quantified using a commercial fluoride ion detector. This research falls within the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences’ (NIEHS’s) General SBIR/STTR – Water Related Technologies area of interest focusing 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’s preliminary study successfully demonstrated the feasibility to evaluate the degree 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, can synergistically achieve 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 Phase I effort, framergy will evaluate the feasibility of developing an at-home test kit for the broad and non-selective detection of PFAS. The team will optimize 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 teams will then evaluate the combined performance of MOFs and PDS for the mineralization of long-chain legacy PFAS and perform TOF measurements following treatment with a commercial fluoride ion detector. Finally, framergy will engage in customer discovery and business model validation studies to be able to address regulation and market demand.