Professor Yoichi Kobayashi and his colleagues’ research results published in Chemical Science

Professor Yoichi Kobayashi (RARA Associate Fellow) and his colleagues’ research results have been published in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal, Chemical Science.

This research has successfully decomposed and rendered harmless perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), the latter of which is generally thought to be particularly hard to decompose. Both are internationally regulated substances within the “forever chemicals” category of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), which are globally considered problematic due to their environment-polluting effects and health risks. By irradiating zinc oxide (ZnO) semiconductor nanocrystals (low in toxicity, inexpensive, and capable of large-scale synthesis) with commercially available near-ultraviolet (NUV) LED light, the authors have demonstrated that PFASs may be decomposed into as diminutive as fluoride ions under ambient conditions. The resulting fluoride ions can be reused as the source ore, fluorite (calcium fluoride), making it a promising new photocatalytic technology that achieves both environmental purification and resource recycling.

Paper title: Photocatalytic defluorination of perfluoroalkyl substances by surface-engineered ZnO nanocrystals
Authors: Shuhei Kanao, Mai Yamaguchi, Yuto Toyota, Yuki Nagai, and Yoichi Kobayashi
Publication journal: Chemical Science
Publication date: Wednesday, November 5, 2025, 18:00 (JST)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D5SC05781G
Press release: https://en.ritsumei.ac.jp/news/detail/?id=1128