Breaking the unbreakable: Students test cold plasma on forever chemicals

Boise State University chemist Jeneé Cyran and students Lauren Gold, a senior in Boise State's Accelerated Master of Science in Chemistry program, and Hal Scott, a College of Western Idaho computer science student, recently completed a Summer Authentic Research Experience (SARE) in which they investigated the ability of cold atmospheric plasma to break down forever chemicals.

(l-r) Lauren Gold, a senior in Boise State's Accelerated Master of Science in Chemistry program, and Hal Scott, a College of Western Idaho computer science student, Boise State University chemist ,Jeneé Cyran

What are forever chemicals?

Many have heard of forever chemicals, also known as perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, but few realize how common they are in industrial goods. PFAS include thousands of molecule types designed to repel water or oil and can be found in everything from rain jackets and nonstick cookware to semiconductor chips in cellphones and firefighting foams.

Though useful in such applications, forever chemicals become problematic when they inevitably make their way into air, groundwater and wastewater. These pervasive substances are costly to detect and have been linked to multiple developmental delays and cancers. While recent breakthroughs have improved PFAS detection, one question remains: How do we break down substances designed to last forever? That's the question Cyran and her students set out to answer this summer.

Cyran is an assistant professor of chemistry at Boise State, where she directs the Cyran Lab which specializes in using spectroscopic techniques to examine photochemical processes and molecular level chemistry of emerging pollutants. This summer, she and the students worked in the Cyran Lab and Cornell Labs at Boise State University to test the structural integrity of a specific forever chemical called PFOA, or perfluorooctanoic acid. A common surfactant, PFOA forms single chemical layers at the water's surface, making it a prime candidate for study.

Research in action

The team made wet and dry samples of PFOA, then applied cold atmospheric plasma gas to break down the chemical. Gold and Scott then took the samples to the laser lab, using a frequency-generated spectroscopy technique - pairing a visible beam and an infrared beam at the same point on the surface - to get a surface-specific reading of the PFOA molecules.

Research in action - Cyran, Gold and Scott work in laser lab

"The first question we wanted to explore was, can this work at all? And so the good news is it does seem to change the [molecule] structure at the interface," Cyran said. "I think being able to expand this into other PFAS molecules or concentrations, to try to understand the limitations of plasma treatment, would be very beneficial. This could have applications for municipal and industrial water treatment facilities."

Scott, a returning student, credits the SARE experience with giving him a better understanding of what it's like to engage in real scientific inquiry.

"When I began this summer, I had little to no experience in chemistry or coding, and now I feel I have a basic understanding of both," Scott said. "I also learned what is involved in daily operations in a research lab and how to present research."

A collaborative experience

Cyran, Gold and Scott all pointed to the collaborative nature of the SARE experience as one of its greatest strengths. The cross-institutional, interdisciplinary student cohort and the chance to network at the Idaho Conference of Undergraduate Research made for an invaluable experience.

"It was a great opportunity to meet, learn and network with people, many of whom are experiencing their first research experience," Gold said. "It's not a common thing to be able to work with someone from another institution during undergraduate studies. It was really awesome to be able to teach and learn how exciting research can be."

About the Summer Authentic Research Experience

SARE is an Idaho Community-engaged Resilience for Energy-Water Systems (I-CREWS) initiative designed to give students experience in all aspects of energy and water research. SARE and I-CREWS are funded by the National Science Foundation's Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research.

This publication was made possible by the NSF Idaho EPSCoR Program and by the National Science Foundation under award number OIA-2242769.

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