Direct measurement of fluorocarbon radicals in the thermal destruction of perfluorohexanoic acid using photoionization mass spectrometry.

• Tác giả: Musahid Ahmed, Jens Blotevogel, Chen Huang, Eric M Kennedy, Wenchao Lu, John A Lucas, John C Mackie, Anthony K Rappé, Michael Stockenhuber, Nathan H Weber, Ming-Gao Xu, Long Zhao
• Ngôn ngữ: eng
• Thông tin xuất bản: United States : Science advances , 2025
• Bộ sưu tập: NCBI
• ID: 728523

Tóm tắt

Thermal destruction is a critical cornerstone of addressing the rampant contamination of natural resources with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). However, grave concerns associated with stack emissions from incineration exist because mechanistic studies have thus far relied on ex situ analyses of end products and theoretical calculations. Here, we used synchrotron-based vacuum ultraviolet photoionization mass spectrometry to study the pyrolysis of a representative PFAS-perfluorohexanoic acid-and provide direct evidence of fluorocarbon radicals and intermediates. A key reaction pathway from perfluorocarboxylic acids to ketenes via acyl fluorides is proposed. We furthermore propose CF