Recently, Li Yuli, a 2018 undergraduate in the School of Science of Tianjin University, published an articleLow-temperature mineralization of perfluorocarboxylic acidsas a co-first author in the top international academic journalScience.

This study is devoted to addressing the PFAS contamination problem under mild reaction conditions. By studying the reaction mechanism, Li Yuli proposed a reaction mechanism that could be consistent with the experiment and tested it by calculation. This study realized that perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acid (PFCAs) can be mineralized by a sodium hydroxide-mediated defluorination pathway, and that PFCAs will spontaneously decompose into benign inorganic fluoride ions and simple pollution-free organic molecules, which can provide the most direct and effective theoretical and practical guidance for the treatment of PFCs pollution and make a great contribution to the development of environmental chemistry.

It is reported that this study was conducted under the guidance of Prof. K. N. Houk at UCLA.