Amphiphilic Perfluoropolyether Copolymers for the Effective Removal of Polyfluoroalkyl Substances from Aqueous Environments

Xiao Tan; Jiexi Zhong; Changkui Fu; Huy Dang; Yanxiao Han; Petr Král; Jianhua Guo; Zhiguo Yuan; Hui Peng; Cheng Zhang; Andrew K. Whittaker

doi:10.1021/acs.macromol.1c00096

Amphiphilic Perfluoropolyether Copolymers for the Effective Removal of Polyfluoroalkyl Substances from Aqueous Environments

Xiao Tan
, Jiexi Zhong
, Changkui Fu
, Huy Dang
, Yanxiao Han
, Petr Král
, Jianhua Guo
, Zhiguo Yuan
, Hui Peng
, Cheng Zhang^*
, Andrew K. Whittaker^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

53 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Effective removal of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from the environment has become a major focus of a number of research groups due to their high stability and persistence in the environment. In this study, we report a fundamental study of the removal of one of the most extensively produced PFAS, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), using amphiphilic perfluoropolyether (PFPE)-containing block copolymers as effective sorbents. The results demonstrate interactions between PFOA and the PFPE blocks and that the extent of sorption is higher for the block copolymer with the shorter poly(oligo(ethylene glycol)methyl ether acrylate) segments. High selectivity of sorption was further confirmed by the addition of 10% (v/v) fetal bovine serum to phosphate-buffered saline. The presence of dissolved proteins and other biomolecules did not interfere with the removal of PFOA from solution. Overall, the results provide important design parameters and a potential platform for preparing efficient sorbents for treating PFAS samples at environmentally relevant concentrations. © 2021 American Chemical Society.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	3447-3457
Journal	Macromolecules
Volume	54
Issue number	7
Online published	16 Mar 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.1c00096
Publication status	Published - 13 Apr 2021
Externally published	Yes

Funding

The authors acknowledge the Australian Research Council (CE140100036, DP0987407, DP110104299, DP130103774, DP180101221, LE0775684, LE0668517, and LE0882357) and the National Health and Medical Research Council (APP1021759, APP1046831, APP1107723, and APP1158026) for funding this research. C.Z. acknowledges the National Health and Medical Research Council for his Early Career Fellowship (APP1157440). C.F. acknowledges the University of Queensland for a UQ Development Fellowship (UQFEL1831361). The Australian National Fabrication Facility, Queensland Node, and the Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS) are also acknowledged for access to some items of equipment.

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@article{ff31fc60c7e8492ea6f38886db468336,

title = "Amphiphilic Perfluoropolyether Copolymers for the Effective Removal of Polyfluoroalkyl Substances from Aqueous Environments",

abstract = "Effective removal of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from the environment has become a major focus of a number of research groups due to their high stability and persistence in the environment. In this study, we report a fundamental study of the removal of one of the most extensively produced PFAS, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), using amphiphilic perfluoropolyether (PFPE)-containing block copolymers as effective sorbents. The results demonstrate interactions between PFOA and the PFPE blocks and that the extent of sorption is higher for the block copolymer with the shorter poly(oligo(ethylene glycol)methyl ether acrylate) segments. High selectivity of sorption was further confirmed by the addition of 10\% (v/v) fetal bovine serum to phosphate-buffered saline. The presence of dissolved proteins and other biomolecules did not interfere with the removal of PFOA from solution. Overall, the results provide important design parameters and a potential platform for preparing efficient sorbents for treating PFAS samples at environmentally relevant concentrations. {\textcopyright} 2021 American Chemical Society.",

author = "Xiao Tan and Jiexi Zhong and Changkui Fu and Huy Dang and Yanxiao Han and Petr Kr{\'a}l and Jianhua Guo and Zhiguo Yuan and Hui Peng and Cheng Zhang and Whittaker, \{Andrew K.\}",

year = "2021",

month = apr,

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doi = "10.1021/acs.macromol.1c00096",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Amphiphilic Perfluoropolyether Copolymers for the Effective Removal of Polyfluoroalkyl Substances from Aqueous Environments

AU - Tan, Xiao

AU - Zhong, Jiexi

AU - Fu, Changkui

AU - Dang, Huy

AU - Han, Yanxiao

AU - Král, Petr

AU - Guo, Jianhua

AU - Yuan, Zhiguo

AU - Peng, Hui

AU - Zhang, Cheng

AU - Whittaker, Andrew K.

PY - 2021/4/13

Y1 - 2021/4/13

N2 - Effective removal of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from the environment has become a major focus of a number of research groups due to their high stability and persistence in the environment. In this study, we report a fundamental study of the removal of one of the most extensively produced PFAS, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), using amphiphilic perfluoropolyether (PFPE)-containing block copolymers as effective sorbents. The results demonstrate interactions between PFOA and the PFPE blocks and that the extent of sorption is higher for the block copolymer with the shorter poly(oligo(ethylene glycol)methyl ether acrylate) segments. High selectivity of sorption was further confirmed by the addition of 10% (v/v) fetal bovine serum to phosphate-buffered saline. The presence of dissolved proteins and other biomolecules did not interfere with the removal of PFOA from solution. Overall, the results provide important design parameters and a potential platform for preparing efficient sorbents for treating PFAS samples at environmentally relevant concentrations. © 2021 American Chemical Society.

AB - Effective removal of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from the environment has become a major focus of a number of research groups due to their high stability and persistence in the environment. In this study, we report a fundamental study of the removal of one of the most extensively produced PFAS, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), using amphiphilic perfluoropolyether (PFPE)-containing block copolymers as effective sorbents. The results demonstrate interactions between PFOA and the PFPE blocks and that the extent of sorption is higher for the block copolymer with the shorter poly(oligo(ethylene glycol)methyl ether acrylate) segments. High selectivity of sorption was further confirmed by the addition of 10% (v/v) fetal bovine serum to phosphate-buffered saline. The presence of dissolved proteins and other biomolecules did not interfere with the removal of PFOA from solution. Overall, the results provide important design parameters and a potential platform for preparing efficient sorbents for treating PFAS samples at environmentally relevant concentrations. © 2021 American Chemical Society.

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U2 - 10.1021/acs.macromol.1c00096

DO - 10.1021/acs.macromol.1c00096

M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal

SN - 0024-9297

VL - 54

SP - 3447

EP - 3457

JO - Macromolecules

JF - Macromolecules

IS - 7

ER -

Amphiphilic Perfluoropolyether Copolymers for the Effective Removal of Polyfluoroalkyl Substances from Aqueous Environments

Abstract

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