Researchers at Rice University in Texas have received a $1.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to move a promising, chemical-free technology for destroying PFAS in drinking water closer to real-world use.
The work builds on a scientific breakthrough led by Michael Wong, endowed molecular nanotechnology professor, director of the Rice PFAS Alternatives and Remediation Center, and professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering. In laboratory experiments published in Environmental Science & Technology Letters, Wong’s team found that commercially available boron nitride powder, when exposed to ultraviolet light, could destroy up to 99% of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) — one of the most common PFAS — in just four hours.
“By combining my team’s experience in catalyst design with the expertise of my Rice colleagues, industry partners, and DoD stakeholders, we aim to develop this technology into a viable, practical solution for treating PFAS-impacted water,” Wong said in a statement. “This project will help identify the best scenarios for pilot testing and generate the data needed to move toward full-scale use, while complementing broader efforts at Rice to advance PFAS treatment and safer alternatives.”
The team says the discovery was unexpected. Boron nitride (BN) was initially used as a control material in photocatalyst experiments, meaning researchers did not anticipate any reaction. Instead, repeated testing showed the material consistently broke down PFOA into fluoride, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen using only UV light, air, and contaminated water — without added chemicals or energy-intensive processes.
Subsequent analysis suggested atomic-scale defects in the boron nitride allowed it to absorb UV-C light and generate reactive species capable of destroying PFAS molecules. Further tests showed the catalyst could also degrade GenX, a newer PFAS compound introduced as a replacement for PFOA, though at lower efficiency.
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The 2020 study in the American Chemical Society journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters found boron nitride destroyed PFOA at a faster rate than any previously reported photocatalyst.
Following the 2020 discovery, Wong said: “Here’s the observation. You take a flask of water that contains some PFOA, you throw in your BN powder, and you seal it up. That’s it. You don’t need to add any hydrogen or purge it with oxygen. It’s just the air we breathe, the contaminated water and the BN powder. You expose that to ultraviolet light, specifically to UV-C light with a wavelength of 254 nanometers, come back in four hours, and 99% of the PFOA has been transformed into fluoride, carbon dioxide and hydrogen.”
An illustration of the boron nitride photocatalysis that destroys the pollutant PFOA in water. Graphic: Courtesy of M. Wong/Rice UniversityThe problem was the light, Wong added. The 254-nanometer wavelength commonly used in germicidal lamps is too small to activate the bandgap in boron nitride. While that was unquestionably true, he said the experiments suggested it could not be.
“If you take away the light, you don’t get catalysis,” Wong said. “If you leave out the BN powder and only use the light, you don’t get a reaction.”
Boron nitride was clearly absorbing the light and catalyzing a reaction that destroyed PFOA, despite the fact that it should have been optically impossible for boron nitride to absorb 254-nanometer UV-C light.
Current PFAS treatment approaches often rely on energy-intensive processes, added chemicals, or technologies that are difficult to scale. As concern over contamination grows, experts estimate the PFAS remediation market could exceed $80 billion in the coming years, highlighting the demand for effective and sustainable treatment options.
Recognizing the real-world potential of Rice’s light-activated boron nitride approach, the DoD — in coordination with the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency — awarded the grant to support scale-up and deployment planning. The funding will be used to streamline the technology, identify practical use-case scenarios, and generate performance data needed for pilot projects and eventual full-scale implementation.
The three-year grant from the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program, an installation innovation program of the DoD, will support further development of the light-activated water treatment method.
The research team includes Pedro Alvarez, George R. Brown Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and director of the Rice WaTER Institute; Thomas Senftle, William Marsh Rice Trustee Associate Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Welman Elias, research scientist; Youngkun Chung, postdoctoral fellow at the Rice Sustainability Institute; and Rula Deeb, senior principal at Geosyntec Consultants.
