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Fluorine-Free Conjugated Polyelectrolyte Optical Nanosensor Array Enables Trace PFAS Detection and Discrimination


Journal article


Brenda Alfaro, Foster Morales, Kaleb Jewell, Sophia German-Kavle, Robert Posey, Joshua Tropp
ChemRxiv, 2026


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APA   Click to copy
Alfaro, B., Morales, F., Jewell, K., German-Kavle, S., Posey, R., & Tropp, J. (2026). Fluorine-Free Conjugated Polyelectrolyte Optical Nanosensor Array Enables Trace PFAS Detection and Discrimination. ChemRxiv. https://doi.org/10.26434/chemrxiv.15005537/v1


Chicago/Turabian   Click to copy
Alfaro, Brenda, Foster Morales, Kaleb Jewell, Sophia German-Kavle, Robert Posey, and Joshua Tropp. “Fluorine-Free Conjugated Polyelectrolyte Optical Nanosensor Array Enables Trace PFAS Detection and Discrimination.” ChemRxiv (2026).


MLA   Click to copy
Alfaro, Brenda, et al. “Fluorine-Free Conjugated Polyelectrolyte Optical Nanosensor Array Enables Trace PFAS Detection and Discrimination.” ChemRxiv, 2026, doi:10.26434/chemrxiv.15005537/v1.


BibTeX   Click to copy

@article{brenda2026a,
  title = {Fluorine-Free Conjugated Polyelectrolyte Optical Nanosensor Array Enables Trace PFAS Detection and Discrimination},
  year = {2026},
  journal = {ChemRxiv},
  doi = {10.26434/chemrxiv.15005537/v1},
  author = {Alfaro, Brenda and Morales, Foster and Jewell, Kaleb and German-Kavle, Sophia and Posey, Robert and Tropp, Joshua}
}

Environmental contamination of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) into water supplies has become a global concern due to their toxicity, incidental discharge, and long half-life. Despite advancements in portable sensors, the simultaneous detection and discrimination of diverse PFAS at sub-nanomolar concentrations remains challenging without material fluorination, which further generates unintended PFAS waste. Here, the design, synthesis, and analytical performance of three emissive fluorine-free conjugated polyelectrolytes (CPEs) are demonstrated. Three CPEs with robust luminescence were synthesized with varying cationic ammonium side-chains to enable pronounced differences in each polymer's spectroscopic behavior upon electrostatic interaction with each PFAS. When coupled with array-based sensing methods, these polymeric sensors discriminated among seven PFAS (PFBA, PFOA, PFNA, PFBS, PFOS, PFDS, PFHxS) with interferents. To improve limits of detection (LODs), the CPEs were immobilized within hydrogels to enhance polymer-analyte interactions, thereby demonstrating extraordinary sensitivity (LOD = 63 pM) and selectivity without generating fluorinated waste.

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