LAUSR

Water treatment techniques for destructive removal of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have only recently begun to emerge in the research literature, comprising unconventional advanced oxidation and reduction methods. Photocatalytic degradation of PFAS has not been widely pursued, which is a result of the limited ability of common semiconductor materials to induce C–F bond cleavage in aqueous systems. Herein, degradation of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) by bismuth phosphate photocatalysts under ultraviolet irradiation has been investigated for the first time, including the relatively well-known monoclinic BiPO4 wide band gap semiconductor, as well as a novel Bi3O(OH)(PO4)2 (BOHP) composition. Compared to BiPO4 and a β-Ga2O3 nanomaterial reference catalyst, BOHP microparticles achieved dramatically faster PFOA degradation and mineralization, despite both a smaller surface area and a lower band gap energy. The rate constant for degradation of PFOA by BOHP in a pure water solution was ∼15 times greater than ...