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<sup>1</sup>H and <sup>19</sup>F NMR Toolbox for Examining Interactions between Fluorinated Compounds and Polystyrene Nanoparticles
Summary
Researchers used a suite of NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectroscopy techniques to study how PFAS "forever chemicals" bind to polystyrene nanoplastics, testing whether the fluorine in PFAS molecules influences how strongly they stick to plastic. Surprisingly, fluorination had little effect on binding strength for the compounds tested — aromatic molecules and aliphatic alcohols behaved similarly whether or not they contained fluorine. The work advances understanding of how two major classes of emerging contaminants — nanoplastics and PFAS — interact in the environment.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and micro- and nanoplastic (MNP) are both emerging environmental pollutants, yet the interactions between the two are rarely studied on a fundamental level. Here we use a suite of NMR techniques to examine binding between polystyrene nanoparticles (PSNP) and fluorinated compounds or nonfluorinated analogues, with the aim of understanding how fluorination influences the strength of binding. In addition, we have compared the different NMR techniques in terms of reproducibility and ease of use. We find that fluorination does not have a significant effect on binding for aromatic compounds or aliphatic alcohols. However, we have established a toolbox of both quantitative and qualitative NMR techniques that can be used to examine binding between a large receptor and fluorinated compounds either with or without NMR-observable hydrogen atoms.
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