Work Package 1 – Synthesis of organic cage
Significant progress was achieved in the molecular design and synthesis of porous organic cages (POCs) for PFAS adsorption. During the reporting period, the synthesis of structurally stable POCs was successfully completed, providing the core material platform required for the PhotoClean project. Preliminary synthesis optimization was also carried out to improve material formation, yield, and reproducibility. Functionalization with palladium was attempted as an initial strategy to introduce additional active sites for enhanced PFAS interaction and photocatalytic activity; however, this work remained at an early stage and was not fully completed during the reporting period. The main outcome was the successful preparation of the POC material, which represents an important foundation for subsequent functionalization, characterization, adsorption, and degradation studies. The milestone related to POC synthesis was achieved, while the broader deliverables related to complete functionalization and full material optimization were partly achieved and require further development.
Work Package 2 – Characterization of the organic cage material
Work Package 2 focused on the characterization of the synthesized organic cage material to confirm its chemical structure and functional group composition. During the reporting period, FTIR analysis was completed to identify the characteristic functional groups and confirm the formation of the organic cage framework, while NMR analysis was also completed to further verify the molecular structure and chemical environment of the synthesized material. These results provided important evidence supporting the successful preparation of the target organic cage material. However, the remaining planned characterization activities, including XRD, XPS, SEM/TEM, TGA, and BET surface area analysis, were not achieved during this period. Therefore, the scientific deliverables and milestones related to FTIR and NMR characterization were fully achieved, while the broader WP2 deliverables related to full structural, surface, morphological, thermal, and porosity characterization were only partly achieved and require further work.
Work Package 3 – PFAS adsorption kinetics and isotherms
The third work package focused on understanding the adsorption behavior of PFAS within porous organic cages (POCs) and establishing early structure–property–performance relationships. During the reporting period, initial adsorption studies were performed to evaluate the interaction of representative PFAS compounds with the synthesized POC materials. Preliminary adsorption kinetics and isotherm studies were also initiated to assess adsorption rate, uptake behavior, and possible adsorption capacity trends. These early results provided useful indications that the cage structure, pore environment, and functional group chemistry play important roles in PFAS uptake. However, the full mechanistic investigation, detailed selectivity assessment, and complete adsorption modelling were not fully achieved during this period. Therefore, the milestone related to initial adsorption performance evaluation was partly achieved, while the broader deliverable related to complete kinetic/isotherm modelling and mechanistic understanding remains under development and requires further work.
Work Package 4 – Photodecomposition of PFAS
This work package was planned to focus on the integration of photocatalytic functionality into the porous organic cage (POC) platform to enable PFAS degradation following adsorption. The intended work included the development of photoactive POC systems through functionalization or hybridization approaches, preliminary investigation of light-driven PFAS degradation and defluorination pathways, and exploration of coupled adsorption–photodegradation systems. However, these activities were not started during the reporting period. As a result, no experimental outcomes or photocatalytic degradation results were obtained under this work package. The milestone related to proof-of-concept photocatalytic activity was not achieved, and the deliverable related to integrated adsorption–photodegradation system validation was not achieved and remains for future work.
