PFAS, otherwise known as forever chemicals, have become commonplace in numerous everyday and industrial products. At the same time, they are some of the most problematic pollutants of our times: They are extremely durable, accumulate in the environment and in organisms and can only be removed from water with difficulty.

A team of researchers from FAU, Uniklinikum Erlangen and the Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority led by Prof. Dr. Marcus Halik from the Chair of Polymer Materials at FAU have developed a procedure to efficiently remove a wide range of different PFAS from water using functionalized magnetic nanoparticles. They have published their findings in the journal Materials Today.

Johannes Voß and Linda Rockmann from Halik’s team developed functionalized iron oxide nanoparticles with unique magnetic properties, whose surface was specifically adapted to bind to various PFAS. Once they are attached to the iron oxide, i.e. rust particles, the PFAS can simply be removed from the water using a magnet.