Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID AR_2023_Guo

Development of On-Site Fluorescence PFAS Sensors

Institute: Arkansas
Year Established: 2023 Start Date: 2023-09-01 End Date: 2024-08-31
Total Federal Funds: $35,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $35,109

Principal Investigators: Lei Guo

Project Summary: Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of synthetic chemicals. You can find PFAS in your kitchen cookware, on your clothes, on food packaging materials, and in fire extinguishers. PFAS from these daily products will enter the ecosystem (air, soil, or water) and to our body (mostly through drinking water). PFAS are also harmful to our health. Therefore, it is important to know if PFAS are present in natural or drinking waters. In this proposal, we will develop sensors that can realize on-site PFAS detection in water. We will design a nanomaterial that can present fluorescence and colorimetric responses when exposed to PFAS and further quantify how much PFAS are present. Successful development of this sensor will be a very useful monitoring tool for on-site PFAS examination to protect public health.