Professor Marie Pierre Krafft

Professor Marie Pierre Krafft
Institut Charles Sadron (CNRS UPR 22)
University of Strasbourg, France

From Fluorine’s Position in the Periodic Table to PFAS Environmental Issues

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have become a global pollution issue. These anthropogenic and unusually stable chemicals have been in use since the 1940s. Thousands of them, whether molecular or polymeric, have been developed and are found in innumerable industrial processes and consumer products. Multiple air and water pathways ensure their dissemination when released into the environment. They can adhere to rock and sediment, concrete,tarmac, and asphalt. Humans, animals, and plants have thus become exposed to PFASs through air,dust, soil, diet, drinking water, and wastewater. Some PFASs have been identified as very persistent in the environment, bioaccumulative, and toxic by public health authorities. 

We will emphasize that the specific and outstanding properties of PFASs and of the C–F bond, derive directly from fluorine’s position in the periodic table. Fluorinated surfactants also have the outstanding capacity to form large, exceptionally sturdy supramolecular self-assemblies in aqueous solutions, on solid surfaces and at liquid interfaces. This behavior may impact the fate of PFAS pollutants in the environment, as well as their remediation procedures, a fact that has so far been barely recognized. 

Finding alternatives to fluorinated surfactants and fluoropolymers that deliver comparably high performances while reducing their environmental and biological impact can be extremely challenging. The essential use concept distinguishes the uses for which, in the current state, PFASs hardly find any replacement product capable of matching the demanded properties, from those for which lesser performance is sufficient and attainable otherwise, not to speak of those for which use of PFASs is downright futile. The need for discerning, eco-responsible use of PFASs is accentuated if we want to continue benefit from PFASs unmatchable performances.

Keywords: Fluorinated surfactants, Fluorocarbons, Fluoropolymers, Supramolecular self-assemblies, Adsorption at interfaces, Essential use, Regulation.

Marie Pierre Krafft

Marie Pierre Krafft is Research Director at the Institut Charles Sadron (ICS, CNRS), University of Strasbourg (France). After her Ph.D. Thesis with Prof. Jean G. Riess (University of Nice), she did postdoctoral work as a JSPS Fellow in the University of Nagoya, in the USA (San Francisco), and in the R&D department of Alliance Pharmaceutical Corp. (San Diego). Marie Pierre’s research focusses on the design, engineering and investigation of fluorocarbonpromoted molecular self-assemblies, colloids and interfaces, including nanoemulsions, microbubbles, micelles and vesicles, lifemimicking active droplets, fluorocarbon-based therapeutics. More recently, she is also concerned with PFAS-related environmental remediation issues, including remediation of heavily polluted sites. She published over 200 papers, holds 12 patents, delivered over 100 invited lectures in International Meetings. She received Awards from the French Académie des Sciences, Chemical Society of Japan, Fluorous Technology Committee, is a Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur. She is Co-Editor-in-Chief of Current Opinion in Colloid and Interface Science and sits on the Editorial Board of Scientific Reports and of Frontiers in Soft Matter. She led several projects with potential benefits for the society in the medical field and in material science that were supported by the European Commission, National Agency for Research, CNRS-Innovation and by Industry (Areva, Superbranche, TotalEnergies).

Selected reviews:

Krafft, M.P. From fluorine’s position in the periodic table to PFAS environmental issues. C. R. Acad. Sciences, 28, 423-438 (2025).

Krafft, M.P. and Riess, J.G. About perfluoropolyhedranes, their electron-accepting ability and questionable supramolecular hosting capacity. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 62, e202302942 (2023).

Krafft, M.P. and Riess, J.G. Therapeutic oxygen delivery by perfluorocarbon-based colloids. Adv. Colloid Interface Sci. 294, 102-407 (2021).

Krafft, M.P. and Riess, J.G. Selected physicochemical aspects of poly- and perfluoroalkylated substances relevant to performance, environment and sustainability-Part one. Chemosphere 129, 4-19 (2015). 

Krafft, M.P. and Riess, J.G. Per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFASs): Environmental challenges. Curr. Opin. Colloid Interface Sci. 20, 192-212 (2015).

Hosted by Professor William C.K. Pomerantz