Effect of chain length on the pyrolysis of perfluorocarboxylic acids

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) are increasingly becoming the contamination issue of our time, due to their environmental persistence, bioaccumulation and mounting evidence of their toxicity. Herein we examined the pyrolytic decomposition of a series of perfluorocarboxylic acids via the production of CO and CO2, utilizing FTIR and GC/MS. We observed the presence of a parallel surface-mediated reaction in conjunction with the gas-phase pyrolysis.