Date of Graduation

Summer 2024

Degree

Master of Science in Chemistry

Department

Chemistry & Biochemistry

Committee Chair

Cyren Rico

Abstract

The contamination of perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS, C8F17SO3H) in water is considered a threat to humans and the environment. The strength of carbon and fluorine bond is responsible for its high stability in the environment. Therefore, it can be transferred from the environment to food sources and eventually humans. This study assessed the ability of nanoparticles to adsorb PFOS from water. The experiment was performed by preparing suspensions of PFOS (10 ppm) and different concentrations (1000 ppm, 500 ppm, 250 ppm) of cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeO2-NPs) or magnesium oxide nanoparticles (MgO-NPs). The suspensions were vortexed and put on a shaker for 24 hours before collecting the filtrate and the solid samples (after repeated washing with water) for Liquid Chromatography - Mass Spectrometry (LCMS) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analyses. In this study, parameters (e.g., mobile phase ratio, column temperature, injection volume) for an LCMS method were optimized for quantitative analysis of PFOS concentration. The results showed that CeO2-NPs reduced the PFOS concentration in the suspension by 88% to 92% while MgO-NPs reduced the PFOS concentration by 45% only. The XRD data did not show any changes in the structure of CeO2-NPs, but a very minor change was observed in the structure of MgO-NPs. Overall, the study revealed that CeO2-NPs can adsorbed PFOS more effectively than MgO-NPs without appreciable change in the nanoparticle structure.

Keywords

clean water, environment, emerging contaminant, PFAS, XRD

Subject Categories

Life Sciences | Other Pharmacology, Toxicology and Environmental Health

Copyright

© Iqra Shakoor

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