Prospects of Novel Technologies for PFAS Destruction in Water and Wastewater

PFASs, compounds to which the C-F bond—the strongest known in nature—bestows high resistance to degradation, have been detected in surface and groundwater worldwide, including drinking water supplies. Current regulations on long-chain PFASs resulted in the shift to short-chain PFASs in industrial uses, with their increasing environmental detection. Currently, suggested BATs for PFAS removal from aqueous solutions include mainly adsorption or membrane filtration; however, different response behavior to even simple treatment was observed concerning long- and short-chain PFAS molecules. In order to permanently destroy (mineralize) PFASs and their precursors, treatment technologies that can deliver sufficiently high energy to crack the C-F bond are needed. This paper discusses current PFAS removal technologies and state of the art advanced methods for PFAS removal and destruction, critically discussing their efficiency, applicability, emerging issues, and future prospects.