Green Remediation Sponge for Poly- and Perfluorinated Alkyl Substances

Project Summary Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) like perfluorooctane acid (PFOA) andsulfonate (PFOS) are increasingly being recognized as US and global environmental concerns.Their best-known uses include providing fabrics with stain- and water-resistance and nonstickproperties to cookware, in firefighting foams, and the manufacture of electronic products.Qualities such as durability that have made PFAS a desirable chemical also contribute to itspersistence in the environment and in the human body where they can cause reproductive anddevelopmental, liver, kidney, immunological effects, cancer, and thyroid hormone disruption. Ithas now been shown that PFAS contamination of drinking water and groundwater pose asignificant and immediate health hazard that demands response and at one contaminated sitehas triggered an EPA Superfund designation. Unfortunately, there are no effective remediationmethods for PFAS and any attempt at widespread treatment plans would be prohibitivelyexpensive. The proposed Phase 1 SBIR effort will validate a solution to this problem bydesigning, synthesizing, and demonstrating novel custom-designed adsorbents that can beused as passive and easily regenerated PFAS-sponges.