Poly-and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have found widespread use in industry because of their resistance to heat, oil, and water, stain repellence, and non-stick properties. The PFAS chemical perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is used as an industrial surfactant, in fire fighting foam, food packaging, floor wax, and textile factories.
Due to its strong CâF bonds, PFOA cannot be broken down easily by chemical and biological decomposition. The stability of PFOA is desired in industry, but this causes concerns to human health and the environment. Remediation methods to destroy PFOA have been investigated in recent years because PFOA is present everywhere on land and in water, is bioaccumulative, and is harmful to human and animals. Multiple studies have been conducted that used various methods to remove PFOA, such as electrochemical oxidation, incineration, sonolysis, and non-thermal plasma; however, these methods come with many issues due to their high cost and large energy consumption, which releases large amounts of carbon dioxide that contribute to climate change, making them impossible to be used on a large scale. In this research, PFOA is defluorinated using electrocatalysis, without or with ultraviolet light illumination, in aqueous electrolytes. By changing electrocatalytic process variables, including composition and pH of the aqueous electrolytes, applied potential, reaction time, and catalysts, an optimal set of parameters was obtained, which maximized defluorination efficiency. This approach provides a clean, cost-effective, climate friendly, and energy-efficient method to remediate PFOA contamination.
