New Room-Temperature Method Uses Light to Break Down PFAS

Researchers at Ritsumeikan University recently proposed a room-temperature defluorination method using visible light to break down PFAS and other perfluorinated polymers (PFs) into fluorine ions. Their study demonstrated 100% defluorination of perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) within eight hours of light exposure. The method involves irradiating visible LED light onto cadmium sulfide and copper-doped cadmium sulfide nanocrystals with mercaptopropionic acid surface ligands in a solution containing PFAS, FPs, and triethanolamine. This irradiation generates electrons with high reduction potential, breaking the strong carbon-fluorine bonds in PFAS molecules. The process is enhanced by triethanolamine, which captures photoexcited holes, prolonging the lifetime of reactive electrons.Laser flash photolysis