A University of Akron researcher and his team might have developed one of the solutions for tackling Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), known colloquially as "forever chemicals."
Sadhan Jana, the university’s BF Goodrich endowed professor and associate dean for research at the College of Engineering and Polymer Science, said he and his team have developed a polymer filtration medium that effectively removes PFAS chemicals from water.
“As an analog, you have a filter called Brita, it’s a personalized filtration device,” Jana said. “Our idea is to use our gel in a filter like that. ... We call it a gel, but it’s a solid polymer that is extremely porous.”
When water passes through such a filter, it comes out with so few PFAS chemicals left in it—necessary to meet tightening EPA standards for PFAS—that Jana and his team had to develop ways to detect it with mass spectrometers.
By now, most people have heard of PFAS. And even those who haven’t are likely full of them, since PFAS have been found everywhere from Antarctic ice to the Marianna Trench, not to mention in nearly half of the tap water in the U.S.
The “forever chemicals” nickname is given because they take so long to break down. They were introduced in the 1940s by Dupont in the form of Teflon, which was then manufactured by 3M.
The PFAS chemicals were used in home products to wow consumers, like making nonstick surfaces for new pans to keep eggs and gooey cheese from sticking. It wasn’t long before PFAS were being used in all sorts of applications, from fire retardants to stainproof and waterproof clothing, electronics, drugs, home and personal cleaning products and even grease-resistant paper for things like microwave popcorn bags.
But they were widely adopted before their dangers were well known. Now they're everywhere, with more entering the atmosphere and water systems every day.
Jana hopes his technology can help solve this problem, at least for drinking water.
The “gel” that he and his team have developed is actually a structure of countless fibers, each much thinner than a human hair, according to Jana. “With the naked eye, we cannot see it,” he said.
Those fibers can be formed into various shapes, including shapes that nest inside water pipes to remove PFAS. Alternatively, they can be dipped into water to absorb the chemicals, he said.