Researchers at the University of Washington have created a new way to destroy PFOA (perfluorooctane)
«Вечные химические вещества», названные так за их the ability to persist in water and soil, represent a special class of molecules. They are constantly present in everyday life of a person - from food packaging to household chemicals. Since these chemicals do not decompose, they end up in people's water and food, and lead to dangerous health effects such as cancer or reduced fertility. The two most common of these are PFOA and PFOS.
The photo shows the details of the reactor before they are assembled. Photo: Igor Novoselov/Washington University
New technology will help recycleindustrial waste and destroy concentrated chemicals that already exist in the environment forever. In addition, the development will be useful for working with old “stocks”.
Chemicals that are forever stored innormal water, such as PFOS and PFOA, can break down in supercritical water at a very high rate. Under the right conditions, these recalcitrant molecules can be completely destroyed, leaving no intermediates and leaving only harmless substances such as carbon dioxide, water, and fluorine salts, which are often added to city water and toothpaste.
Initially, the reactor was designed to destroy chemical warfare agents. But then they found wider use for it. It took scientists five years to make the reactor.
The entire structure is located inside a thick pipe made ofstainless steel about a third of a meter long and 2.5 cm in diameter. The temperature inside can be varied. Thus, some chemicals require 400 °C, others require 650 °C. The total processing time takes less than a minute.
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