Project Overview

This project advances FES research on fluorinated chemicals in energy systems by developing a multi-platform analytical toolkit to quantify and characterize organofluorine contamination pathways relevant to energy-derived materials and working fluids, with relevance to both the Arctic and Edmonton. The core objective is to build and validate an integrated workflow that combines targeted quantification (LC–MS/MS and SFC–MS/MS) with suspect and nontarget screening (LC–Orbitrap HRMS/MS and GC×GC–TOF HRMS). The workflow will be enabled by optimized sample preparation, harmonized cross-platform acquisition, and data interpretation strategies for source fingerprinting (leveraging use-pattern information and machine learning where appropriate). Method development will be anchored in existing Arctic lake-water samples currently available in our laboratory, which will serve as the primary matrix for method development and validation, enabling us to optimize detection and identification of ultra-mobile organofluorines (including TFA) and co-occurring PFAS classes, and to assess how these signatures manifest in relatively remote/background settings. Once established, the toolkit will be transferable to Edmonton-relevant matrices in follow-on work to help tease out contrasting source regimes (e.g., long-range transport/background versus urban and point-source influences such as municipal wastewater, and energy-related sites). Deliverables include validated workflows, curated cross-platform datasets (targeted concentrations and annotated suspect/nontarget features), and manuscripts that translate methodology and findings into sustainable site management practices.