Project description
Bio-based polymers could prevent PFAS from spreading into urban water systems
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), or ‘forever chemicals’, are a growing environmental concern, especially in urban areas facing extreme weather. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Programme, the PFAS-RETENT project plans to use superabsorbent polymers (SAPs), which are known for retaining water, to enhance PFAS removal in green stormwater infrastructure like grass swales. The proposed research will test the SAP’s ability to trap short-chain PFAS using a step-by-step approach: beginning with lab experiments before moving to small-scale grass swale set-ups and testing under nearly real-world conditions. SAPs could act as temporary barriers by trapping PFAS during storm deluges and allowing vegetation to take them up during droughts.
Objective
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), referred to as “forever chemicals”, are contaminants of escalating global concern. Superabsorbent polymers (SAPs), known for their high-water retention, offer a potential new approach for enhancing PFAS removal within green stormwater infrastructure (GSI), like grass swales, particularly in the face of climate change-driven weather events in urban environments. This project will focus on evaluating the retention potential of a group of highly mobile, short-chain PFAS, using a biological-based SAP integrated into a grass swale framework (prototype). To accomplish this, these specific working objectives (WOs) will be employed: WO1: evaluation of the retention and release processes of SAP for short-chain PFAS, using batch retention experiments (simple framework); WO2: assessing the efficacy of SAP in removing short-chain PFAS when incorporated into lab-scaled, grass-planted microcosms (simple framework of a grass swale system); WO3: assessing the efficacy of SAP in removing short-chain PFAS, when incorporated into flow-through, grass-planted mesocosms (‘real-world’ framework of a grass swale system). WO2 and WO3 experiments will employ percolation and drought simulations to evaluate SAP retention performance for PFAS during these conditions. The overall methodology will follow a 3-stage stepwise approach that starts with simple designs (batch experiments–WO1, microcosms–WO2) then increase in complexity to nearly real-world scenario (horizontal flow-through mesocosms–WO3). SAP integrated into swale substrates could serve as a temporary “removal” barrier for PFAS during storm runoff, thereby limiting their distribution throughout urban water systems and the water cycle. During drought periods, PFAS trapped in the water-saturated gel phase of the SAP (along with the water) could be taken up by vegetation within the GSI, preventing their release to nearby water bodies and reducing contamination risks to urban water resources.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences chemical sciences polymer sciences
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences environmental sciences pollution
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture industrial crops fodder
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01
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56070 Koblenz
Germany
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