Sarah Wu
University of Idaho, ID·Engineering
Poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are called "forever chemicals" because they almost never break down. They contaminate water across the United States, build up in people and animals, and are linked to serious health risks.
- Fields
Engineering
Chemistry
Earth & Environmental Science
- Topics
forever chemicals
perfluoroalkyl substances
aqueous film-forming foam
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jun 2028
What they work on
- Build theoretical and thermodynamic models of liquid-phase plasma discharge in PFAS solutions to quantify energy delivery, plasma–liquid interactions and the generation of hydrated electrons, free electrons held among water molecules.
- Investigate the mechanisms and kinetics by which plasma-generated reactive species break carbon–fluorine bonds in PFAS while avoiding carbon–carbon bond cleavage.
- Map the reaction pathways leading to complete defluorination and mineralization of long-chain, precursor and short-chain PFAS under CLPD treatment, and define the best process control strategies for scale-up.
More about the research
Their toughness comes from carbon–fluorine bonds, among the strongest bonds in chemistry. Ordinary water treatment can move PFAS around but cannot destroy them.
Why it matters
PFAS contaminate drinking water and persist in people and the environment, and current treatments cannot destroy them. A plasma process that fully breaks PFAS apart without chemicals or harmful byproducts could give water utilities and cleanup sites, such as those polluted by firefighting foam, a simpler, lower-energy way to remove these contaminants.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
John Foster
University of Michigan, MI·Engineering
Test whether plasma breaks down PFAS through a non-oxidative route in which electrons and photons produce short-lived hydrofluorocarbons that hydroxyl radicals then oxidize to release fluoride ions.
Marina Tsianou
University at Buffalo, NY·Chemistry
Determine how different PFAS molecules compete and self-assemble in water when mixed with one another and with ordinary hydrocarbon surfactants, combining computational modeling with experiments.
Mark Kushner
University of Michigan, MI·Engineering
Develop computational models of the interface between an atmospheric-pressure plasma and water, emphasizing how electrons and ions accelerate into the water surface where PFAS 'forever chemicals' collect.
The school
University of Idaho: 8 labs on PI Pages, $140M a year on research, 71 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
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