Contaminant-sequestering coatings include a network of hydrolyzed silane compounds including (i) a plurality of fluorinated functionalities, and (ii) a plurality of thiol functional groups are provided. The network of hydrolyzed silane compounds includes a fluorinated silane including (a) a hydrophilic polar head region. The polar head region includes one or multiple units of ethylene glycol (EG) functionality, (b) a fluorine-containing region, and (c) an anchor region including a silicon atom. The contaminant-sequestering coatings may sequester one or more per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), heavy metals, biological species, or any combination thereof.

The present disclosure provides systems and methods for degrading per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) using hydrated electrons generated in an ultraviolet (UV)/sulfite system. These systems and methods may be used, e.g., to remediate wastewater by destroying PFAS and co-contaminants such as chlorinated volatile organic compounds (CVOCs).

A method of treating a waste liquid includes: an aluminum dissolution step of dissolving aluminum in an acidic waste liquid and performing separation into a first treated water and a reduced heavy metal precipitate; a gypsum recovery step of adding a calcium compound to the first treated water at a liquid property of a pH of 4 or less, and performing separation into a second treated water and gypsum; an aluminum and fluorine removal step of adding an alkali to the second treated water and performing separation into a third treated water and a precipitate containing aluminum and fluorine; and a neutralization step of adding an alkali to the third treated water and performing separation into an alkali neutralization treated water and a neutralized precipitate of a heavy metal hydroxide.

Materials for binding per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are disclosed. A fluidic device comprising the materials for detection and quantification of PFAS in a sample is disclosed. The fluidic device may be configured for multiplexed analyses. Also disclosed are methods for sorbing and remediating PFAS in a sample. The sample may be groundwater containing, or suspected of containing, one or more PFAS.

A ground water contamination remediation process includes the steps of identifying a source and location of land-based ground water contamination and excavating the soil above and within the location of the contamination to create a void. The width and depth of the void is increased to a predetermined size until the contaminated ground water is exposed creating a man-made treatment lake by allowing the contaminated ground water to partially fill the void. In one embodiment, the water in the treatment lake is aerated to reduce the amounts of hydrogen sulfide, methane, and biodegradable compounds in the contaminated water. In another embodiment, an adsorbent material is added to the treatment lake so to isolate per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The adsorbent material is applied to or mixed into PFAS contaminated water, PFAS is adsorbed, and the solid adsorbent materials settle to the bottom of the lake for subsequent management or removal.

A method for the decontamination of water containing one or more PFAS, having the steps of generating colloidal gas aphrons (CGAs) by mixing a gas, water, and one or more surfactants together with high shear forces, introducing the CGAs and a PFAS-containing water in an enclosed space where the CGAs move upwards through the water due to their inherent buoyancy, allowing the plurality of CGAs to extract PFAS from the water, and separating the PFAS-containing CGAs from the surface of the water in the enclosed space for further treatment or disposal, leaving the water with lower PFAS concentrations in the vessel. The aphrons may be anionic or cationic and created by mixing speeds or surfactant concentration, and treatment may be with gas bubbles to remove PFAS from water gas bubbles or destruction of PFAS by plasma reactor or deployed in situ through wells into geologic ground formations.

A method for the decontamination of water containing one or more PFAS, having the steps of generating colloidal gas aphrons (CGAs) by mixing a gas, water, and one or more surfactants together with high shear forces, introducing the CGAs and a PFAS-containing water in an enclosed space where the CGAs move upwards through the water due to their inherent buoyancy, allowing the plurality of CGAs to extract PFAS from the water, and separating the PFAS-containing CGAs from the surface of the water in the enclosed space for further treatment or disposal, leaving the water with lower PFAS concentrations in the vessel. The aphrons may be anionic or cationic and created by mixing speeds or surfactant concentration, and treatment may be with gas bubbles to remove PFAS from water gas bubbles or destruction of PFAS by plasma reactor or deployed in situ through wells into geologic ground formations.

A method for the decontamination of water containing one or more PFAS, having the steps of generating colloidal gas aphrons (CGAs) by mixing a gas, water, and one or more surfactants together with high shear forces, introducing the CGAs and a PFAS-containing water in an enclosed space where the CGAs move upwards through the water due to their inherent buoyancy, allowing the plurality of CGAs to extract PFAS from the water, and separating the PFAS-containing CGAs from the surface of the water in the enclosed space for further treatment or disposal, leaving the water with lower PFAS concentrations in the vessel. The aphrons may be anionic or cationic and created by mixing speeds or surfactant concentration, and treatment may be with gas bubbles to remove PFAS from water gas bubbles or destruction of PFAS by plasma reactor or deployed in situ through wells into geologic ground formations.

A synthesis method of an indole derivative capable of efficiently degrading a perfluorinated compound (PFC) and a use of the indole derivative are provided. The synthesis method includes dissolving an appropriate amount of indole, alkylamine, and formaldehyde in an ethanol solution, conducting a reaction at reflux under suitable conditions for a specified period of time with ZnCl.sub.2 or glacial acetic acid as a catalyst to form a reaction product, vacuum-drying the reaction product, and purifying the reaction product through column chromatography to obtain a novel indole derivative with a hydrophobic alkyl branch. The present indole derivative has some hydrophobicity and a positively charged amino group that can effectively capture PFCs in contaminated water to produce a sub-nanoscale self-assembled aggregate. Hydrated electrons generated by light irradiation can directly attack PFCs in the aggregate without long-distance mass transfer, improving the utilization rate of hydrated electrons and reduces the ratio of fed materials.

Provided are systems and methods for removing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from a contaminated stream comprising: collecting a contaminated stream comprising one or more PFAS; concentrating the one or more PFAS of the contaminated stream to achieve a concentrated stream having greater than or equal to 0.01 wt. % PFAS; and removing the one or more PFAS of the concentrated stream by heating the concentrated stream in the presence of calcium oxide to produce calcium fluoride.