Sensing and Analytical Technologies for Emerging Environmental Contaminants

Description:
Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of chemical compounds that possess excellent chemical and thermal stability ascribed to the strong C-F bond. Owing to their outstanding physicochemical properties, PFAS have been commercially used in several fields including surfactants, repellents for dirt, water and oil, lubricant for machinery, medical products, and procedures, synthesis of pesticides, consumer products such as materials for food packaging, cookware, glass, clothing, carpets, electronics, and even personal care products. However, these chemicals are highly persistent in nature and bio-accumulate in the environment including air, water, soil, sediment, and plants, and are thus, often termed as “forever chemicals”. Besides this, their high mobility allows them to travel long distances from the main source. In recent times, PFAS have been detected globally and are also identified in human bodies. The toxicological and epidemiological studies have confirmed these substances to possess adverse health effects associated with kidney and testicular cancer, decreased fertility, liver disease, changes in hormone functioning, high cholesterol, changes in the immune system, thyroid problems, and adverse developmental effects. Even though a plethora of methods have been employed so far for their degradation, none of the methods has qualified for their complete degradation. In the present work, we demonstrate the design and development of greener electrochemical nanocatalysts and methods for the detection, quantitation and destruction of PFAS effectively into innocuous products. The as-synthesized nanomaterial is characterized by transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive X-Ray spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma. Simulation techniques, LC/MS and Fluoride-Selective Electrochemical data will be presented to confirm the mechanism of the destruction of PFAS.

Speaker: Omowunmi Sadik - Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science, New Jersey In
Dr. Sadik is a Distinguished Professor and Chair of Chemistry and Environmental Sciences at the New Jersey Institutes of Technology (NJIT). She is also the Director of BioSensors Materials for Advanced Research & Technology (The BioSMART Center). Until 2019, Sadik was a Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Center for Research in Advanced Sensing Technologies & Environmental Sustainability (CREATES) at SUNY-Binghamton. She has held appointments at the USEPA, Harvard University, Cornell University, and the Naval Research Laboratory. Sadik holds five U.S. patents in biosensors and has published ~200 peer-reviewed works with 400 invited lectures and conference presentations. Her research areas are in biosensors, electrochemical materials, and sustainable nanotechnology. Sadik is a fellow of RSC, AIMBE, and Jefferson Science Fellow. She is the Co-Founder and Inagural President of the Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization.