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SUMMARY:Forever chemicals: the good, the bad, and the ugly
LOCATION:Chemistry A101
TZID:America/Denver
DTSTART:20251205T160000
UID:2026-10-08-18-47-24@natsci.colostate.edu
DTSTAMP:20261008T184724
Description:Echo360 Link to stream this seminar\n\nZoom link to participate
  in Q&amp\;A at the end of the seminar\n\nAbout the seminar:\n\nPer- or po
 lyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) find utility in myriad applications\, from
  rain gear\, to food packaging\, to cosmetics\, to the 3 nm features of se
 miconductor devices\, to the refrigerants of the green revolution\, to lif
 esaving aqueous film forming (or firefighting) foam. This ubiquity leads t
 o a pervasive waste problem: discarded forever chemicals are dispersed acr
 oss the environment and sequestered inside at least 98% of us. Residual aq
 ueous film forming foam (AFFF) and municipal waste-derived biosolids are t
 he two most concerning sources of PFAS in the environment\, though the pre
 cursor consumer and pharmaceutical materials in municipal waste are not fa
 r behind.\n\nThe question is can we efficiently extract PFAS from the envi
 ronment and safely convert them into reusable fluorine sources without gen
 erating toxic or long-term greenhouse gas side products?\n\nStrong C-F bon
 ds are the heralded attribute associated with silicon etching and fire sup
 pression\, but the yin and yang of hydro- and lipophobicity dominate their
  role in consumer products\, biological activity\, and the fire suppressio
 n of AFFF. PFAS mineralization is actually exothermic (the H-F bond surpas
 ses the C-F bonds in strength) - the challenge is kinetic.\n\nQuantum mech
 anical and kinetic computational studies on tailoring decomposition pathwa
 ys of the major classes of PFAS toward mineralization will be summarized\,
  and compared to shock tube\, syncotron\, and full scale incineration expe
 rimental results. In addition an emerging model of the fluorous effect and
  its role in PFAS environmental extraction.\n\n&nbsp\;\n\nAbout the speake
 r:\n\nFollowing an undergraduate degree at the University of Puget Sound i
 n 1974 and graduate work at Caltech\, Tony Rappe came to CSU in 1981. Ove
 r the years\, he has taught 23 different courses\, mentored 19 undergradua
 tes\, 20 graduate students\, and 7 postdocs. He has had 16 industrial/gove
 rnment lab collaborators and published with 23 academic collaborators. Ove
 r the years\, his research has focused on organometallic reaction mechanis
 ms\, polymerization catalysis\, magnetism\, and force field development.\n
 \nDr. Rappe served as Chemistry Department Chair from 2003 to 2009\, was o
 n the University’s Sustainability committee/commission from 2007 to 2022
 \, served on the founding steering committee for the Clean Energy Superclu
 ster from 2006-2013\, and was on the ISTeC management and allocations comm
 ittee from 2015 to 2022. 4:00 pm
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