WATER CONTAMINANTS (PFAS, 1,4-DIOXANE, PHARMA CHEMICALS)

Sub-mission:

Protect human health and ecosystems while improving treatment efficiency, reliability, and resilience in water treatment technologies.

Status: Research-only — current activities are focused on experimental targets, not product claims.

Active Research Areas

PFAS (Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances):
Exploring defluorination pathways, measuring mineralization yield, and developing reliable fluoride mass balance approaches. Tracking precursors and intermediate compounds to better understand persistence and breakdown dynamics.

1,4-Dioxane:
Investigating oxidation kinetics, identifying reaction bottlenecks, and developing methods to minimize harmful by-products during treatment.

Pharmaceuticals and Micro-Pollutants:
Broad-spectrum oxidation studies, toxicity screening, and evaluation of transformation products to ensure safer water outcomes.

Why High-Current Plasma (HCP)?

Most plasma water treatment systems rely on surface interactions, which are limited by gas–liquid mass transport. High-Current Plasma (HCP) research focuses on volumetric discharge inside the liquid phase, aiming to overcome those transport barriers. This approach is designed to:

Increase energy transfer efficiency.

Enable deeper contaminant interaction beyond the surface layer.

Improve treatment consistency across variable water qualities.

Support scalability for diverse environmental and industrial applications.

All concepts are subject to ongoing validation through controlled laboratory studies and cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Broader Impact

Our goal is to advance treatment strategies for “forever chemicals” and other emerging contaminants, bridging gaps between academic research, technology development, and practical deployment. By tackling persistent pollutants such as PFAS, 1,4-dioxane, and pharmaceutical residues, we seek to contribute to:

Safer drinking water supplies.

Protection of aquatic ecosystems.

Development of resilient, next-generation water treatment platforms.