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Project # 59
Understanding the Chemical Decomposition of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Water Using a Simple Metal/Oxidant System
| Team Lead: | Adebowale Adeyemo |
| Other Team Members: | Erin Choi | Prachi Saha | Nimad Felegari | Hyeok Choi |
| Faculty Advisor(s): | Hyeok Choi |
| Department: | CE |
| Project Type: | REU |
| Title: | Understanding the Chemical Decomposition of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Water Using a Simple Metal/Oxidant System |
| Abstract: | The PI’s research group has studied for developing an energy-independent chemical technology for decomposition of the most problematic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS; so-called forever chemicals). Through this 2025-2026 REU program, the student team was brought to the most important environmental topic and challenge. PFAS are not decomposed in either natural environments or water treatment facilities. More communities are finding their drinking water tainted with PFAS. However, most destructive treatment technologies inevitably require energy-intensive extreme conditions induced by microwave, UV, plasma, e-beam, and heat. Decomposing PFAS under ambient conditions without external energy input is highly demanded. Thus, the student team has worked with the PI’s graduate students to gain hands-on research experience in developing a more affordable and environmentally-friendly treatment method to destroy PFAS. The method is based on activation of persulfate (a chemical oxidant) with Ag, Cu, Au, and Ce (transition metals) to generate strong oxidizing species which can decompose PFAS. In this presentation, the team will discuss results on the decomposition kinetics of two representative PFAS species (PFOA and PFOS) using the persulfate/metal system and thus the efficiencies of the metals in comparison and also summarize what the team learned from this REU project. |
| Poster: | View Poster #59 (PDF) |
| Judges Scoring: | Submit Evaluation (judges only) |