TY - JOUR A1 - Hoque, Maroof Arshadul A1 - Sommerfeld, Thomas A1 - Lisec, Jan A1 - Das, Prasenjit A1 - Prinz, Carsten A1 - Heinekamp, Christian A1 - Stolar, Tomislav A1 - Etter, Martin A1 - Rosenberger, David A1 - George, Janine A1 - Bhattacharya, Biswajit A1 - Emmerling, Franziska T1 - Mechanochemically Synthesized Covalent Organic Framework Effectively Captures PFAS Contaminants N2 - Per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent environmental contaminants that pose significant health risks, prompting urgent efforts to develop effective removal methods and adsorbers. Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are metal‐free adsorbers with high stability and tunable porosity. A highly crystalline COF is synthesised mechanochemically using 1,3,5‐tris(4‐aminophenyl)benzene (TAPB) and 1,3,5‐triformylbenzene (TFB). The formation dynamics are monitored in real time with time‐resolved in situ synchrotron X‐ray diffraction. The TAPB‐TFB COF demonstrates good efficiency in eliminating PFAS from water. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) are effectively extracted, and most of the adsorption occurred within the first 10 min. Additionally, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and DFT calculations are employed to elucidate the molecular interactions between PFAS and the COF framework. The rapid and efficient removal of PFAS makes TAPB‐TFB COF a promising material for water treatment applications. KW - COFs KW - Ball-milling KW - PFAS PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-648712 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202509275 SN - 1613-6810 VL - 21 IS - 44 SP - 1 EP - 8 PB - Wiley CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-64871 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Junge, Florian A1 - Wittwer, Philipp A1 - Sommerfeld, Thomas A1 - Gehrenkemper, Lennart A1 - Zoister, Christian A1 - Nickl, Philip A1 - Koch, Matthias A1 - Meermann, Björn A1 - Haag, Rainer T1 - Adsorber Charge Dominates over Hydrophobic or Fluorophilic Functionalization in Influencing Adsorption of PFCA onto Polystyrene Resins N2 - A systematic series of industrial-relevant polystyrene-based anion exchange resins that are functionalized with hydro- or fluorocarbon chains are compared regarding their adsorption behavior toward perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCA) in respect to their charge, chain length, and type of chain. The results clearly show the dominance of electrostatic interactions in the adsorption process as uncharged adsorber materials showed no adsorption at all. In contrast, the charged adsorber materials showed in general a PFCA removal of 80% to 30% over the experiment depending on effluent fraction. Unexpectedly, for perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA) the highest removal rate is found with consistently >90%. Despite observing significant benefits in the adsorption of PFCA for fluoroalkylated adsorbers in comparison to their non-fluorinated counterparts, this effect of fluoroalkylation is comparatively small and can not be clearly attributed to fluorophilic interactions between the fluoroalkyl chains. These findings help clarifying that the introduction of fluorocarbon moieties in adsorber materials is not necessary in order to remove fluorocarbon molecules from the environment. KW - PFAS KW - Remediation KW - Adsorption KW - Fluorophilic interactions PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-601883 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/admi.202400199 SN - 2196-7350 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - John Wiley & Sons CY - Hoboken, New Jersey, USA AN - OPUS4-60188 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kalbe, Ute A1 - Piechotta, Christian A1 - Bandow, Nicole T1 - Comparing PFAS analysis in batch leaching and column leaching tests N2 - Laboratory leaching tests are tools to assess the mobility of environmental contaminants released from granular materials. Comparative leaching tests were performed using four PFAS-contaminated soils whose concentration patterns of 10 selected perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) differed due to the two types of contamination sources. This study aimed to evaluate the equivalence of two usual laboratory-scale leaching test procedures, batch and column percolation tests, at liquid-to-solid ratios (L/S) of 2 l/kg, which is the current practice within the German assessment framework, and 10 l/kg (relevant for some EU regulations such as the landfill directive). The differences between the replicates of leaching tests investigating PFAS were smaller for column percolation tests than for batch tests, probably mainly due to the greater sample size and the better representativeness of the sample portion analyzed. It was observed that batch tests overestimate the release of shorter-chain PFAS, whereby the effect was greater with carboxylic than with sulfonic acids. Currently, the limits of detection of analyses given by the DIN standard with regard to PFCA and PFSA in soils are partly not sufficient to detect very low contents, whereas the detection of selected PFCA and PFSA in eluates is more sensitive, in accordance with the available standards. This results in limitations when calculating mass balances. KW - PFAS KW - Leaching KW - Column percolation test KW - Batch test KW - Soil PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-618187 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-35510-0 SN - 1614-7499 VL - 31 IS - 57 SP - 65233 EP - 65251 PB - Springer Science and Business Media LLC AN - OPUS4-61818 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Roesch, Philipp A1 - Vogel, Christian A1 - Simon, Franz-Georg T1 - Reductive Defluorination and Mechanochemical Decomposition of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs): From Present Knowledge to Future Remediation Concepts N2 - Over the past two decades, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have emerged as worldwide environmental contaminants, calling out for sophisticated treatment, decomposition and remediation strategies. In order to mineralize PFAS pollutants, the incineration of contaminated material is a state-of-the-art process, but more cost-effective and sustainable technologies are inevitable for the future. Within this review, various methods for the reductive defluorination of PFASs were inspected. In addition to this, the role of mechanochemistry is highlighted with regard to its major potential in reductive defluorination reactions and degradation of pollutants. In order to get a comprehensive understanding of the involved reactions, their mechanistic pathways are pointed out. Comparisons between existing PFAS decomposition reactions and reductive approaches are discussed in detail, regarding their applicability in possible remediation processes. This article provides a solid overview of the most recent research methods and offers guidelines for future research directions. KW - PFAS KW - Reductive defluorination KW - Reductive decomposition KW - Mechanochemistry KW - Remediation PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-513811 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17197242 VL - 17 IS - 19 SP - 1 EP - 22 PB - MDPI AG CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-51381 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Roesch, Philipp A1 - Vogel, Christian A1 - Wittwer, Philipp A1 - Huthwelker, T. A1 - Borca, C. A1 - Sommerfeld, Thomas A1 - Kluge, Stephanie A1 - Piechotta, Christian A1 - Kalbe, Ute A1 - Simon, Franz-Georg T1 - Taking a Look at the Surface: µ-XRF Mapping and Fluorine K-edge µ-XANES Spectroscopy of Organofluorinated Compounds in Environmental Samples and Consumer Products N2 - For the first time, µ-X-ray fluorescence (µ-XRF) mapping combined with fluorine K-edge µ-X-ray absorption near-edge structure (µ-XANES) spectroscopy was applied to depict per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination and inorganic fluoride in samples concentrations down to 100 µg/kg fluoride. To demonstrate the matrix tolerance of the method, several PFAS contaminated soil and sludge samples as well as selected consumer product samples (textiles, food contact paper and permanent baking sheet) were investigated. µ-XRF mapping allows for a unique element-specific visualisation at the sample surface and enables localisation of fluorine containing compounds to a depth of 1 µm. Manually selected fluorine rich spots were subsequently analysed via fluorine K-edge µ-XANES spectroscopy. To support spectral interpretation with respect to inorganic and organic chemical distribution and compound class determination, linear combination (LC) fitting was applied to all recorded µ-XANES spectra. Complementarily, solvent extracts of all samples were target-analysed via LC-MS/MS spectrometry. The detected PFAS sum values range from 20 to 1136 µg/kg dry weight (dw). All environmentally exposed samples revealed higher concentration of PFAS with a chain length >C8 (e.g. 580 µg/kg dw PFOS for Soil1), whereas the consumer product samples showed a more uniform distribution with regard to chain lengths from C4 to C8. Independent from quantified PFAS amounts via target analysis, µ-XRF mapping combined with µ-XANES spectroscopy was successfully applied to detect both point-specific concentration maxima and evenly distributed surface coatings of fluorinated organic contaminants in the corresponding samples. KW - PFAS KW - XRF KW - LC-MS/MS KW - XANES KW - Fluoride KW - Soil PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-576109 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/D3EM00107E SN - 2050-7887 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-57610 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Scholl, Juliane A1 - Meiers, Emelie A1 - Mauch, Tatjana A1 - Lisec, Jan A1 - Sommerfeld, Thomas A1 - Weinfurtner, Karlheinz A1 - Haase, Hajo A1 - Koch, Matthias T1 - Approaches towards sensitive and reliable determination of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) from German grass- and farmland soils N2 - In light of the emerging threat of environmental contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), there is a growing need for analytical techniques that can be applied to a range of environmental matrices, including water, air, plant, and soil samples. Trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) is a member of the PFAS class, representing the shortest perfluorinated carboxylic acid and is an emerging pollutant whose environmental levels are expected to increase in the future. Soil matrices represent the interface between plant and ecosystem uptake of TFA, but contamination is poorly understood, largely due to a lack of uniform TFA determination methods. This study compares six ways of determining TFA in soils and highlights their limitations. We present a validated sample preparation method with high recoveries (104 %), low LOD (0.015 ng/g) and LOQ (0.045 ng/g). This approach includes isotope dilution analysis with hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (HILIC-MS/MS) detection. The method was applied to quantify the TFA content in 100 soil samples from grassland and farmland across Germany. The results indicate the ubiquity of TFA, accompanied by elevated contamination levels in certain locations. An analysis of variance revealed no correlation with collection site and designation purpose. However, a low correlation was observed with dry bulk density. KW - PFAS KW - Extraction methods KW - HILIC-MS/M KW - Emerging pollutant KW - German soil protection PY - 2025 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2025.144496 SN - 0045-6535 VL - 382 SP - 1 EP - 11 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-63499 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Simon, Fabian A1 - Gehrenkemper, Lennart A1 - Becher, S. A1 - Dierckes, G. A1 - Langhammer, Nicole A1 - Cossmer, Antje A1 - von der Au, Marcus A1 - Göckener, B. A1 - Fliedner, A. A1 - Rüdel, H. A1 - Koschorreck, J. A1 - Meermann, Björn T1 - Quantification and characterization of PFASs in suspended particulate matter (SPM) of German rivers using EOF, dTOPA, (non-)target HRMS N2 - In this study, we compare analytical methods for PFAS determination–target analysis, non-target screening (NTS), direct total oxidizable precursor assay (dTOPA) and extractable organically bound fluorine (EOF). Therefore, suspended particulate matter (SPM) samples from German rivers at different locations in time series from2005 to 2020 were analyzed to investigate temporal and spatially resolved trends. In this study 3 PFAS mass balances approaches were utilized: (i) PFAA target vs. PFAS dTOPA, (ii) PFAS target vs. EOF and (iii) PFAS target vs. PFAS dTOPA vs. organofluorines NTS vs. EOF. Mass balance approach (i) revealed high proportions of precursor substances in SPM samples. For the time resolved analysis an increase from 94% (2005) to 97% in 2019 was observable. Also for the spatial resolved analysis precursor proportions were high with >84% at all sampling sites. Mass balance approach (ii) showed that the unidentified EOF (uEOF) fraction increased over time from82% (2005) to 99% (2019). Furthermore, along the river courses the uEOF increased. In the combined mass balance approach (iii) using 4 different analytical approaches EOF fractions were further unraveled. The EOF pattern was fully explainable at the sampling sites at Saar and Elbe rivers. For the time resolved analysis, an increased proportion of the EOF was now explainable. However, still 27% of the EOF for the time resolved analysis and 25% of the EOF for the spatial resolved analysis remained unknown. Therefore, in a complementary approach, both the EOF and dTOPA reveal unknown gaps in the PFAS mass balance and are valuable contributions to PFAS risk assessment. Further research is needed to identify organofluorines summarized in the EOF parameter. KW - PFAS KW - HR-CS-GFMAS KW - Fluorine KW - SPM KW - LC-MS/MS PY - 2023 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163753 SN - 1879-1026 SN - 0048-9697 VL - 885 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - Elsevier Science CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-57429 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -