CycloPure Awarded SBIR Grant From National Institutes Of Health To Accelerate Development Of PFAS-Removing Polymer

CycloPure, Inc., a developer of next-generation water purification adsorbents, announced recently that the National Institutes of Health has awarded the company a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I grant in the amount of $149,000. The company will use the funds to accelerate development of its CD-PFAS High-Affinity Cyclodextrin Polymer (HACP) adsorbent that safely removes hazardous perfluorinated (PFAS) compounds in drinking water and waste water treatment applications.

Contamination of drinking water by PFAS compounds such as PFOA and PFOS represent major health threats because of their link to multiple cancers, endocrine system disorders, and thyroid disease. Recent studies estimate that drinking water systems which serve tens of millions of Americans currently contain high concentrations of these contaminants resulting in communities across several states advising residents to avoid using tap water for drinking and cooking purposes.

“We are pleased to receive this award from the National Institutes of Health,” said CycloPure co-founder and Chief Science Officer Will Dichtel. “It attests to our technology’s promise to deliver important health benefits in water treatment by sequestering heavily fluorinated organic pollutants that often pass through water treatment systems into the public’s drinking water.”

CycloPure’s fluorine-selective CD-PFAS polymer was first profiled in a 2017 study, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, reporting on the polymer’s superior performance in the removal of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) compared to activated carbon which is the most commonly used adsorbent in water treatment applications.¹ “CD-PFAS has more than ten-fold higher affinity to PFAS compounds compared to activated carbon, which allows for lower dosing requirements to achieve non-detect or advisory limit removal,” Dichtel added. “Importantly, our CD-PFAS adsorbent is made in a single-step process using cyclodextrin, a readily available sugar molecule derived from sustainable corn starch.”

“We’ve made a lot of progress with our CD-PFAS polymer in field trials over the past 12 months and have demonstrated its superior performance to activated carbon under various conditions including simulated groundwater, AFFF solution, and contaminated well water,” said Frank Cassou, CycloPure CEO. “The NIH funding will help accelerate our development activities and bring us closer to making our technology commercially available to help communities remove toxic PFAS compounds from their drinking water.”

Making Water Safe - About CycloPure
Founded in 2016, CycloPure is a materials science and technology company that is commercializing a new class of selective adsorbents called High-Affinity Cyclodextrin Polymers (HACPs). The company’s pioneering technology allows the conversion of renewable cyclodextrins (derived from corn starch) into highly adsorbent materials ideally suited for water treatment applications.

Government and other studies have shown that trace contaminants (measured in parts per billion and less), including industrial chemicals, pesticides, and pharmaceutical residues, are pervasive in water and can retain toxic effect at low concentration. Using its novel polymer technology, CycloPure has developed two novel adsorbent formulations, CD-MP and CD-PFAS, for the removal of harmful contaminants from water, including the perfluorinated compounds PFOA and PFOS.

CycloPure’s patented HACPs can be produced in varying particle sizes, tailored to filtration and water flow requirements, allowing for flexible use across a broad spectrum of water purification applications. CycloPure is working with global partners to produce and distribute its proprietary HACPs to meet growing worldwide interest from water treatment managers, food and beverage companies, government agencies, and manufacturers of point-of-use consumer water purification products. For more information, visit www.cyclopure.com.

¹ “β-Cyclodextrin Polymer Network Sequesters Perfluorooctanoic Acid at Environmentally Relevant Concentrations”; J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2017, 139, 7689–7692.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jacs.7b02381 (open access)