Summary

Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl compounds (PFASs) represent a class of emerging environmental contaminants, resulting from their use in fire suppressants and their presence in landfill leachates, wastewater treatment plant effluent, and solids. The presence of PFAS in the environment is a serious concern since they exhibit hepatotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, thyroid damage, fetal and developmental toxicity, and endocrine disruption. As the researchers begin to understand more about their application, spread, and toxicity, it becomes important and urgent to have a rapid and inexpensive way to detect PFAS. Multiple methods, including LC-MS/MS, GC-MS, and ion mobility, exist for sensitive and selective detection of PFAS in a variety of modalities. Unfortunately, these methods suffer from limited sample throughput, high detection limits, high operational costs, complex operation, and require knowledge of the specific PFAS chemical structure, making them unsuitable for quantifying total PFASs. Several other detection techniques are emerging but are not yet able to reliably determine total PFASs in samples.

The research team seeks to enable faster and lower-cost, but still reliable and robust, detection and quantification of total PFASs. This project charts as-yet unexplored territory in developing an advanced solid-state nanopore chip to meet these urgent and comprehensive needs. The nanopore instrument features single-molecule precision and is used to detect DNA, RNA, proteins, and small pharmaceuticals at low concentrations from different forms of samples (liquid, solid, etc.). The approach is enabled by a unique integration of advanced nanofabrication, high-throughput data collection, and reliable data analysis software to improve overall PFAS detection capabilities. Nanopore chips with tailored pore characteristics (diameter, thickness, coating, etc.) are fabricated, tested, and validated, and their storage, stability, and reusability are systematically evaluated. The researchers envision this platform as a first line of defense against PFAS contamination for individuals and private and public environmental protection organizations, and as the engineering of an advanced solid-state nanopore chip with single-molecule resolution for even broader applications.