Environment

100% of toxic "forever chemicals" break down overnight in new reaction

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Scientists have developed a new reaction that can break down 100% of toxic forever chemicals in a matter of hours
Scientists have developed a new reaction that can break down 100% of toxic forever chemicals in a matter of hours
Scientists have developed a new reaction that can break down 100% of toxic forever chemicals in a matter of hours
Arima et al, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2024

Scientists in Japan have developed a new method for breaking down toxic “forever chemicals” quickly and at room temperature. The technique broke down 100% of certain types of these pollutants overnight, recovering some useful components for reuse.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a broad class of chemicals that have excellent stability and resistance to water and heat, largely thanks to their strong carbon-fluorine bonds. This makes them perfect for everything from non-stick cookware to firefighting foam and water-repellant clothing.

But those super-strong bonds have a downside too – since they don’t break down, the chemicals tend to linger in the environment essentially “forever,” hence their nickname. Worse still, when they accumulate in the human body they’ve been linked to diabetes, fertility issues, various cancers, immune system disruption, and many other health conditions.

Scientists have developed a new reaction that can break down 100% of toxic forever chemicals in a matter of hours
Arima et al, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2024

Now, scientists at Ritsumeikan University in Japan have developed a new method for breaking down PFAS. Semiconductor nanocrystals of cadmium sulfide (CdS), some of which are doped in copper, are the active ingredients in a solution that also contains water, a compound called triethanolamine (TEOA), and of course the PFAS chemicals waiting to be treated.

When the solution is exposed to LED lights at wavelengths of 405 nm, the nanocrystals become excited and cause the PFAS molecules to stick to their surface. At the same time, electrons are generated and excited in the solution, until they remove fluorine ions from the PFAS molecules, breaking those sturdy bonds.

In tests, this method successfully broke down 100% of a particular PFAS, called perfluorooctanesulfonate, in just eight hours. Another, called Nafion, broke down by 81% in 24 hours. This was achieved at a temperature of just 38 °C (100 °F) – far cooler than the 400 °C (752 °F) usually required. The technique also recovers the fluroine ions, allowing them to be reused for other industrial applications.

The technique is similar to many others that use a catalyst to break down PFAS molecules, but usually UV light is required and often a higher temperature. Other teams have found success with similar reactions using supercritical water, magnetic particles, hydrogen or boron nitride. Ultimately, having a mix of options for breaking down PFAS could be the best solution.

The research was published in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

Source: Ritsumeikan University

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10 comments
Sporrok
Wow, this is great news! It's amazing how quickly technology is advancing.
jimbo92107
"...when they accumulate in the human body they’ve been linked to diabetes, fertility issues, various cancers, immune system disruption, and many other health conditions."

If the new catalyst contains cadmium, then we're a loooong way from using it to counter forever chemicals from accumulating in the human body.
TechGazer
To jimbo92107, the technique isn't meant to be used against PFAS already in the human body; they're meant to prevent them from accumulating in the environment so they don't get into the body. Unfortunately, there are far too many sources that aren't easily--and economically--contained for processing. I could imagine firefighting foam being mopped up for processing, but what about clothing with teflon, or bits of eq
1stClassOPP
Well, we all know that stuff just doesn’t disappear by treating it with another product. You’re just changing it to another state. Will this next “state” be more, or less problematic to the world?
Karmudjun
Techgazer: good response to jimboo92107 & his astute non-sequitur. The technique of light therapy for melanoma may involve certain UV wavelengths of light, but for deep tissue or circulating fluids with PFAs contamination, the cure is reducing environmental exposure. We don't recommend injecting bleach or putting a light probe into people's bodies even if light therapy shows "promise". This Japanese PFAs deconstruction in a chemistry laboratory may be the answer we need to eliminate more contamination. If it is inexpensive enough to treat wastewater, or filters isolating PFAs for breakdown can be installed economically, we may be improving our world! Let's get on it, and Thanks Michael
Captain Trips
I'll toast this with my bottled water.
Techutante
This seems to be more of a solution to disposing of waste chemicals and cleaning up at the end of water processing. Which is still valuable. We'd have to run the whole ocean through it though, which would take infinity probably.
doofkcans
Hopefully something like a nickel-zinc substrate can substitute for the cadmium. A biological enzyme would be even better, you could seed sediments with it, then illuminate it at will.
Wombat56
405 nm wavelength is deep visible violet in color.
MCG
I wonder if the sound frequency and geometrics of this reaction could be measured then safely introduced to the body in some manner so as to create a a healing response. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5797535/