Project Grant DESC0025258

This two-year, $194,025 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems will fund the development of a low-cost, mass-scale sorbent for removing toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from drinking water. Montclair State University will design a fluorinated block copolymer sorbent that leverages self-assembly at solid-liquid interfaces to facilitate PFAS elimination. The porous polymer will be synthesized...

This National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Program project grant, titled "ERASE-PFAS: UNDERSTANDING THE SURFACE-ACTIVE PROPERTIES OF PFAS FOR ENHANCED REMOVAL BY BUBBLING-ASSISTED WATER TREATMENT PROCESSES", aims to develop an air bubble-assisted water treatment process to efficiently capture and remove per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from contaminated water. The $334,185 award to the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) will fund research to: 1) characterize...

This $434,507 National Science Foundation project grant supports the development of new photocatalytic materials for treating water contaminated with poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) by Professors Thomas Senftle and Rafael Verduzco of Rice University. Under this three-year award beginning July 1, 2023, the researchers will apply computational and experimental methods to design covalent organic frameworks (COFs) capable of adsorbing and photochemically degrading PFAS. As modular...

This three-year Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems will support $249,710 in research at the University of Nevada, Reno to investigate thermal regeneration of granular activated carbon (GAC) laden with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). PFAS are difficult to degrade and have emerged as priority pollutants found in drinking water. GAC sorption is the most efficient method for removing PFAS from...

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems awarded a $301,130 project grant to The Research Foundation for the State University of New York (SUNY) to study the molecular and nanoscale structure and interactions of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in aqueous solutions, at interfaces, and with other surfactants. The research aims to develop fundamental knowledge that supports improved water quality and the design of...

This Project Grant award of $412,000 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) will be used by the University of Massachusetts (UMass) to investigate the use of engineered polymer microparticles to adsorb and remove per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from wastewater. The central hypothesis is that the adsorption of PFAS molecules will alter the interfacial properties of the microparticles, causing emulsions to destabilize and allowing for the capture...

This $499,988 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) seeks to develop and validate an integrated sorption-photocatalytic process for the ex-situ treatment and remediation of groundwater contaminated by mixtures of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and chlorinated solvents like trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PCE). The principal investigator and research team at Southern Illinois University Carbondale will...

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $499,997 Project Grant under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) to the Regents of the University of Michigan to fund research aimed at advancing the use of persulfate and powdered activated carbon for in situ capture and destruction of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contaminating groundwater. The 3-year project will: 1) evaluate reaction kinetics for PFAS degradation using the persulfate/activated carbon treatment process, 2)...

The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Mathematical and Physical Sciences Federal Grant Program awarded a $550,000 project grant to the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) to advance a photochemical destruction technology for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Under this 3-year grant, Professors Timothy Strathmann and Shubham Vyas are leading a team that aims to identify the key mechanisms and pathways involved in the use of hydrated electrons to decompose and defluorinate these...

This $500,000 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) will support research to improve electrochemical oxidation treatment methods for the destruction of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as "forever chemicals." The project, titled "ERASE-PFAS: Mechanistic Study of the Electrochemical Oxidation of Per and Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances to Guide Electrode Design," aims to advance the scientific...