Our Mission
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are synthetic forever chemicals that have been used in consumer products around the world since about the 1950s. They are linked to cancer and other health issues, and are found in most consumer products that include Teflon, other non-stick cookware, food packaging and water-repellant coatings. The Great Plains PFAS Initiative are working to remove these chemicals and effectively degrade or destroy them.
A three year grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Multimodal Nanosensor for Field Detection and Degradation of PFAS Contamination in Groundwater and Wastewater (SENSE-PFAS), supports a multi-institute collaboration led by Clarkson University and includes Stevens Institute of Technology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and the State University of New York at Buffalo. The project's goal is to develop an integrated nanosensor technology for field detection an degradation of PFAS. The sensor will be the first field-ready PFAS-detection technology available that can be used to determine PFAS exposure and evaluate effectiveness of remediation technologies.
Nebraska Engineering's Nirupam Aich is focused on the use of nanomaterials to degrade and remove PFAS. A paper written for the Journal of Hazardous Materials by Aich and his research team showed that the use of carbon-metal-based reactive nanocatalysts can degrade the two major types of PFAS that are the focus of the new EPA regulations.
Publications
Ali, M.A., Thapa, U., Antle, J., Tanim, E.U.H, Aguilar, J.M., Bradley, I., Aga, D., Aich, N.,* Influence of Water Chemistry and Operating Parameters on PFAS Degradation using rGO-nZVI Nanohybrid, Journal of Hazardous Materials, 2024, (Accepted). Journal Impact Factor: 13.6. (UNL)
Marciesky, M., Aga, D., Bradley, I., Aich, N., Ng, C., Mechanisms and opportunities for rational in silico design of enzymes to degrade per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling, 2023, (Accepted). Journal Impact Factor: 5.6. (UNL)