Graduation Semester and Year

Spring 2026

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry

Department

Chemistry and Biochemistry

First Advisor

Purnendu Dasgupta

Second Advisor

Daniel Armstrong

Third Advisor

Morteza Khaledi

Fourth Advisor

Peter Kroll

Abstract

Fluoride analysis has been an important focus of analytical analysis for many years and will continue to be so going forward. Today, fluorinated compounds, specifically per/polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), better known as “forever chemicals” have captured the moment and are the subject of vast research and regulation. Under this context, I have researched new methods of fluoride separation and concentration in complex media as well as a novel method of PFAS destruction and total organic fluorine analysis for screening of PFAS in aqueous samples. Through research and work on micro-scale detection methods, an understanding of the state of the art and holes therein formed. Fluoride is one of the most difficult to isolate ions in complex ion exchange separations. To solve this problem, a new stationary phase to IC was investigated and characterized in its ability to separate fluoride. Through review of the current practices of PFAS screening, the end focus of this research coalesced. Plans for development of an instrument which incorporated both the fluoride retention capabilities of zirconia and PFAS mineralization potential of supercritical water was designed. The end goal of this research was the construction of a full service, field deployable screening instrument for PFAS, and while this has not yet been realized, immense progress has been made. This screening method for PFAS has the potential to drastically reduce the price of PFAS screening should it be introduced in place of, or to supplement, existing combustion ion chromatography (CIC) systems. While the current technologies are still in development, their infant forms were still able to demonstrate a preconcentrator for fluoride to improve limits of detection >100 fold, over 98% destruction of a complex PFAS sample, and complete mineralization of PFAS destroyed in a simple, short-chain PFAS sample.

Keywords

Environmental Analysis, Ion Chromatography, Per/polyfluoroalkyl Substances, Supercritical Water, Instrument Development, Fluoride Analysis, Mass Spectrometry, Chemical Separations

Disciplines

Analytical Chemistry | Environmental Chemistry | Environmental Monitoring | Process Control and Systems

License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Download

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.