Publications by authors named "Jeremy R Gauthier"

Oil repellency is essential for enabling self-cleaning, anti-soiling and stain-repelling properties, which has broad application in industries liked textiles, healthcare and electronics. While per-and-polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exhibits strong oleophobicity, their environmental and health risks have led to prohibition on long-chain PFAS ( ≥ C) and restriction on short-chain PFAS (C, C). However, there are few alternative materials demonstrating comparable oil repellency.

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With the increasing use of fluorinated agrochemicals, more fluorinated compounds enter into the environment. Pyroxasulfone (PYS), a broad-spectrum herbicide containing an aromatic CF (Ar-CF), is expected to grow significantly in application. Although several transformation products (TPs) of PYS have been reported, their distribution and contribution to transformation processes remain largely unknown.

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The 2024 Zurich perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) summit reiterated the urgent need for non-selective analytical approaches for PFC detection. F NMR holds great potential, however, sensitivity limitations lead to long analysis times and/or the possibility of not detecting low concentration species. Steady State Free Precession (SSFP) NMR collects the signal in a steady state regime, allowing 100's of acquisitions in the timespan of a single traditional NMR scan.

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The ubiquity of per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) in the environment is a continuing concern. While typical analytical methods for the analysis of PFAS include both targeted and non-targeted mass spectrometry, there remains a significant portion of fluorinated compounds that are not accounted for by these routine methods. It has been previously demonstrated that F NMR can be used to identify these compounds, helping to close the mass balance on total fluorine in the environment.

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A simple equilibrium passive sampler, consisting of water in an inert container capped with a rate-limiting barrier, for the monitoring of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in sediment pore water and surface water was developed and tested through a series of laboratory and field experiments. The objectives of the laboratory experiments were to determine (1) the membrane type that could serve as the sampler's rate-limiting barrier, (2) the mass transfer coefficient of environmentally relevant PFAS through the selected membrane, and (3) the performance reference compounds (PRCs) that could be used to infer the kinetics of PFAS diffusing into the sampler. Of the membranes tested, the polycarbonate (PC) membrane was deemed the most suitable rate-limiting barrier, given that it did not appreciably adsorb the studied PFAS (which have ≤8 carbons), and that the migration of these compounds through this membrane could be described by Fick's law of diffusion.

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Per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) are ubiquitous throughout the environment. Analysis of PFAS is commonly performed using both targeted and nontargeted mass spectrometry methods. However, it has been demonstrated that measurements of fluorinated compounds in the environment by mass spectrometry often fall short of the total fluorine concentration.

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The environmental fate and persistence of sulfoxaflor is of significant interest given the potential for the insecticide to impact nontarget organisms, particularly pollinating and aquatic species. In the present study we examine the potential for sulfoxaflor, a new sulfoximine insecticide, to undergo degradation and transformation in sediments and the aquatic environment. Following application of the active substance as a foliar spray or seed coating, sulfoxaflor can be found in the soil at a mass percentage of up to 61% of the total applied concentration.

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Saflufenacil when applied to a field is susceptible to transport, degradation, and transformation. We used a laboratory-based approach to model the fate of saflufenacil in the environment, the results of which are compared directly with those observed in a field study where saflufenacil was applied to a crop of winter wheat at a standard rate of 63 g of active ingredient/hectare. The water solubility of 2.

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