Oral Presentation Royal Australian Chemical Institute National Congress 2026

Sorption and utilization of “Forever Chemicals” in rechargeable batteries (138217)

Yutong Zhu 1
  1. The University of Queensland, South Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are synthetic fluorinated organic compounds that are linked to severe health issues due to their environmental persistence and bioaccumulation. 1, 2 The urgent need for effective PFAS remediation strategies raises with these significant concerns. Current remediation strategies can be broadly classified into non-destructive and destructive methods.3 The non-destructive method removes and isolates PFAS from the contaminated sources, however, high-concentration PFAS solutions generate from this method. Destructive methods are developed to treat these concentrated PFAS solutions by breaking the C-F bonds. However, such methods involve harsh degradation process, which are energy consuming and may release toxic gaseous by-products. Our work addresses the challenge of sustainably managing high-concentration PFAS solutions by combining sorption and utilizations strategy. In this work, we integrated PFAS into rechargeable battery systems that are under aqueous environment and room temperature. As one of the largest PFAS groups, perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs) are successfully adsorbed onto the surface of zinc metal via hydrophobic interactions, enabling their application as an anode protective layer in aqueous batteries. Compared to bare zinc metal, the results highlight that this layer enhances electrochemical performance by suppressing dendrite growth and self-corrosion. In addition, the cycling stability of Zn|NVO full cells is also enhanced, demonstrating a prolonged and reliable performance. This work highlights the potential of metal based PFAS adsorption strategy, bridging the gap between sorption and utilization, offering an innovative solution to transform this persistent water contaminant into valuable battery component.

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  3. 3. Wanninayake, D. M. JEM 2021, 283, 111977.