New Material Offers sustainable Solution for “Forever Chemical” Removal
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), often called “forever chemicals” due too their persistence in the environment, pose a significant threat to global water supplies. Conventional methods for removing these compounds are often inefficient, slow, and generate problematic waste. Tho, researchers at Rice university, in collaboration with Pukyung National University in South Korea, have developed a novel material that promises a more effective and sustainable solution for both capturing and destroying PFAS.
The breakthrough centers around a layered double hydroxide (LDH) material composed of copper and aluminum. Originally discovered in 2021 by Keon-Ham Kim while a graduate student at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), the material’s potential was unlocked by Youngkun Chung, a postdoctoral fellow at Rice University. Chung found that a specific formulation incorporating nitrate exhibited extraordinary PFAS adsorption capabilities.
“To my astonishment, this LDH compound captured PFAS more than 1,000 times better than other materials,” Chung stated. The material also demonstrated remarkable speed, removing significant amounts of PFAS within minutes - approximately 100 times faster than conventional carbon filters. This efficiency is attributed to the LDH’s unique structure: organized layers of copper and aluminum with inherent charge imbalances that strongly attract PFAS molecules.
Testing in various water sources – including river water, tap water, and wastewater – confirmed the material’s effectiveness in both static and continuous-flow systems, suggesting its suitability for large-scale applications like municipal water treatment and industrial cleanup.
Beyond simply removing PFAS, the research team, including Rice professors Pedro Alvarez and James Tour, developed a method for its destruction. By heating the PFAS-saturated LDH material with calcium carbonate, they were able to eliminate over half of the captured PFAS without creating harmful byproducts.Crucially, the process also regenerates the LDH material, allowing for repeated use.
Preliminary results indicate the material can endure at least six cycles of capture, destruction, and renewal, marking the first known eco-pleasant and sustainable system for complete PFAS management.
“We are excited by the potential of this one-of-a-kind LDH-based technology to transform how PFAS-contaminated water sources are treated in the near future,” said Michael S. Wong, a professor at Rice University’s George R. Brown School of engineering and Computing.
The research was supported by funding from the National Research Foundation of Korea, the National Convergence Research of Scientific Challenges, the Sejong Science Fellowship, Saudi Aramco-KAIST CO2 Management, the Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment (NEWT), the US Army Corps of Engineers’ Engineering Research and Progress Center, the Rice sustainability Institute, and the Rice WaTER Institute.
