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UNDERSTANDING AND ENHANCING PFAS PHYTOREMEDIATION MECHANISMS USING NOVEL NANOMATERIALS

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Principal Investigator: Vasiliou, Vasilis
Institute Receiving Award Yale University
Location New Haven, CT
Grant Number R01ES032712
Funding Organization National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Award Funding Period 09 Apr 2021 to 31 Jan 2026
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): ABSTRACT Per- worldwide. environment. promising dependent effectiveness novel hypothesize customized water track providing synthesize sulfonic GenX) imaging spectroscopy. At by imaging phytoremediation and thousands project of mobilize processes and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are ubiquitous in the environment and represent a health threat More than 7500 PFAS exist, and all have strong C-F bonds that render them persistent in the Therefore, effective alternatives for clean-up of PFAS are urgently needed. Phytoremediation is a technique for in-situ restoration of contaminated soil. However, plant uptake of PFAS is highly on the length of the fluorinated chain portion of the molecule. As such, phytoremediation has limited for larger PFAS, such as perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS). We propose to develop custom nanomaterials (NNMs) that facilitate internalization and mobility of PFAS into hemp plants. We that carbon dots (CDs) and ultraporous mesostructured silica nanoparticles (UMNs) to have an increased affinity for PFAS will enhance PFAS uptake and translocation from and soil into hemp plants . The luminescent properties of these novel materials will allow us to visually both PFAS sorption to the particles and nanoparticle movement into and throughout the plants, thus mechanistic information about our phytoremediation system. In Specific Aim 1 we will design, and test the affinity of customized CDs and UMNs for a mixture of two legacy (perfluorooctane acid, PFOS; perfluorooctanoic acid, PFOA) and two new (perfluorobutane sulfonic acid, PFBS; and PFAS. The nanoparticle-PFAS complex will be evaluated by 19 F nuclear magnetic resonance and techniques, while the sorption rate will be measured by liquid chromatography high resolution mass Specific Aim 2 wil test if our NNMs promote phytoremediation in hydroponically-grown plants. the same time, we will use this simplified plant growth system to elucidate the mechanisms of NNM uptake and translocation within plants. We will analyze the uptake and localization of NNMs in plant tissues by and spectroscopy techniques. Specific Aim 3 will test the efficacy of NNM-enhanced in field soils obtained from PFAS-contaminated land. We will quantitatively analyze 25 PFAS evaluate their uptake and translocation, and also apply non-targeted analysis techniques to screen for of PFAS that may be present in the soils and plants tested. The nanomaterials developed in this will advance phytoremediation as an economical and sustainable technique for removing a wide range PFAS from soil. In addition, findings from this project will result in a better understanding of how NNMs contaminants in plant-soil systems, information that can be translated to optimize phytoremediation with other plant species, contaminant classes, and nanomaterials. l
Science Code(s)/Area of Science(s) Primary: 25 - Superfund Basic Research (non- P42 center grants)
Secondary: 03 - Carcinogenesis/Cell Transformation
Publications See publications associated with this Grant.
Program Officer Heather Henry
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