Florida engineers build gel that snags PFAS forever chemicals from water

Researchers in Florida have created a reusable gel that could provide another option for stripping "forever chemicals" from water. 

The findings come during a time when communities across the country are looking for better ways to protect drinking water from contaminants linked to serious health risks.

What happened?

Chemical engineers at the University of Florida published their findings on June 8 in Energy and Environmental Materials, reporting that a gel they developed removed per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from water more effectively than many commonly used commercial products.

UF chemical engineering professor Joshua Moon, Ph.D., led the study with doctoral student Lakshay Dhamania. The material was built to capture PFOA, one of the most commonly found PFAS in the environment, according to the university. 

Moon calls it "molecular Velcro" because the gel relies on electrical charges to grab the pollutant.

Rather than trapping PFOA only on the outside, the gel allows the chemical to bind throughout the material, increasing its capacity. The captured compounds can then be washed out with common solvents, allowing the gel to be used repeatedly.

Its design also avoids fluorinated compounds. If fluorinated compounds break down, they can release them back into the environment. 

Why does it matter?

PFAS are called "forever chemicals" because they persist in the environment for long periods. The University of Florida said exposure to them has been linked to health concerns, including birth defects and certain cancers.

A more effective filter could eventually help utilities and wastewater systems remove contaminants before they reach household taps.

Moon said PFAS are particularly hard to separate from water because they are often present at very low concentrations.

"It's like putting a drop of food coloring in an Olympic-sized swimming pool and then trying to get all the food coloring back out. It's not easy," he told UF News.

Better filtration could mean safer drinking water and less contamination.

The UF team is now refining the method to learn how to capture a wider range of PFAS, which the university said includes varieties that are tougher to remove from water than PFOA.

What will happen next?

Moon said current treatment options still have major limitations.

"A lot of the materials out there either don't work well or have to rely on using fluorinated stuff to bind PFAS," he said. "We were able to develop these gel-type adsorbents that work well without having PFAS-like substances in the material itself."

He also said the research could help inform more than a single filtration product.

"Maybe we can create new design principles or a better understanding of existing materials to overcome some of the big challenges that commercial treatment processes can't really do," Moon said.

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