PFAS (Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances) are toxic man-made compounds that pose significant environmental and health risks due to their persistence and widespread contamination. To develop reliable detection methods, we conducted an electrochemical study using cyclic voltammetry with ionogel incorporated into screen-printed electrodes (SPE) to analyze the diffusion behavior of PFOA-contaminated water at concentrations of 1 ppb, 0.1 ppb, 0.01 ppb, and 1 ppt, compared to deionized (DI) water. Our results show that for 1 ppb PFOA, total charge transfer decreased between 16% and 40%, while for 0.1 ppb, it decreased by 15% to 25%. The reduction for 0.01 ppb was 6% to 20%, and for 1 ppt, it was 17% to 23%. Additionally, peak oxidation and reduction currents varied across concentrations. For 1 ppb, the oxidation current decreased by 20% to 32% and the reduction current by 5% to 52%. Though peak oxidation voltage showed no significant change, we observed notable increases in reduction voltage compared to DI water. For 1 ppb, the increase ranged from 1% to 18%, while for 0.1 ppb, it was 2% to 9%, 13% to 30% for 0.01 ppb, and 19% to 21% for 1 ppt. These findings indicate that even at low PFOA concentrations, our ionogel-based electrochemical setup reveals significant differences from DI water. This study underscores the potential of ionogel-based materials for effective PFAS differentiations that could open a path to develop soft materials-based PFAS sensors.
