Anaerobic biodegradation of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and microbial community composition in soil amended with a dechlorinating culture and chlorinated solvents.

Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), one of the most frequently detected per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) occurring in soil, surface water, and groundwater near sites contaminated with aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF), has proven to be recalcitrant to many destructive remedies, including chemical oxidation. We investigated the potential to utilize microbially mediated reduction (bioreduction) to degrade PFOS and other PFAS through addition of a known dehalogenating culture, WBC-2, to soil obtained from an AFFF-contaminated site. A substantial decrease in total mass of PFOS (soil and water) was observed in microcosms amended with WBC-2 and chlorinated volatile organic compound (cVOC) co-contaminants - 46.

Size control of gold nanoparticles grown on polyaniline nanofibers for bistable memory devices.

Controlling reaction temperature for a set time enables the size of gold nanoparticles autoreduced on the surface of polyaniline nanofibers to be controlled. The size of the gold nanoparticles can be used to tune the electrical bistable memory effect in gold/polyaniline nanofiber composite devices. Turn-on voltages and on/off ratios improve with decreasing nanoparticle size, making this a promising method to enhance performance and create smaller devices.