Growing bioaccumulation in the food chain and strong chemical stability have made perfluorinated alkyl acids (PFAS) a global priority contaminant. PFAS is present in coatings for paper, textiles, synthetic resins, paints, and fire extinguishers. The most widespread PFAS, PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid), pollutes groundwater worldwide, causing renal, hepatic, and neural dysfunction in human and animals. Chemical, thermal, and biological degradation are highly resistant to PFAS's C-F bonds, which have a dissociation energy of 440.99 kJ/mol. In contrast to destructive methods such as Sono chemical and Thermal, nondestructive methods use less energy but leave residues that must be further processed with adsorption, ion exchange, and nanofiltration. Pd, Ru, Rh, and Pt, are potential dehalogenation catalysts with high activity and low oxidation ability. The application of commercial Microfiltration and Ultrafiltration membrane is leveraged for separation and degradation technology of priority pollutant using pH/ temperature responsive polymers loaded with catalytic bimetallic nanoparticles to be employed for wide variety of environmental remediation processes. The functionalized membranes are supplied with hydrogen as an electron donor to study the hydrogenation of PFOA molecules in water. The following batch experiments were performed on PFOA with commercial Pd on alumina, in-situ Fe/Pd on membrane matrix, and Fe/Pd nanoparticles synthesized in the lab with H2 supplied along with some model compounds. An LC-MS/MS analysis is used to determine the initial and final concentrations of PFOA and detect any hydrogenated derivatives. The successful functionalization of the membrane surface is demonstrated by SEM images, while TEM images demonstrate the deposition of Pd on the zero valent iron nanoparticles. This project is supported by NIH funding through NIEHS sponsored UKSRC under award number P42ES00730 and Southern company.
