An international scientific research team led by Rice University in the United States recently announced that they have developed a new environmentally friendly process that can quickly capture and decompose per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) known as "forever chemicals" in water bodies. This achievement is considered an important step in combating stubborn environmental pollution.
PFAS are man-made chemicals that have been widely used in everyday products such as Teflon non-stick coatings, waterproof clothing and food packaging since the 1940s. They are widely used because they are heat-resistant, oil-proof, and waterproof. However, they are also called "forever chemicals" because they are extremely difficult to degrade. At present, PFAS have been widely detected in water, soil and air around the world. Related studies have shown that exposure to such substances is associated with liver damage, reproductive problems, immune system disorders and an increased risk of certain cancers, making their management a prominent problem in the environmental field.
For a long time, mainstream PFAS removal technology has mainly relied on adsorption: using materials such as activated carbon or ion exchange resin to allow PFAS to adhere to them, and then centralizing the adsorbent for treatment. However, these methods often suffer from low efficiency, slow processing speed, limited capacity, and the generation of secondary waste during subsequent disposal. Michael S. Wang, a professor at Rice University's George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing, pointed out that existing methods are "too slow, too inefficient, and generate additional waste" to support long-term and large-scale remediation needs.
The breakthrough in this research comes from a copper-aluminum layered double hydroxide (LDH) material. This system was first discovered by Jin Jianhan of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) as a graduate student in 2021. In further experiments, Yongkun Zhong, a postdoctoral researcher at Rice University, found that one type of nitrate-containing formula showed unusually strong adsorption properties for PFAS. According to him, this LDH has a capture capacity of PFAS that is more than 1,000 times higher than other materials, and it acts extremely fast and can remove a large amount of PFAS within minutes, which is about 100 times faster than commercially available activated carbon filter media.
The research team pointed out that the key to the high efficiency of this material lies in its internal highly ordered copper-aluminum layered structure and slight charge imbalance, which provides an ideal microenvironment for the "fast and strong" binding of PFAS molecules. In subsequent tests, the researchers verified its performance in real water samples such as river water, tap water, and wastewater. Whether in static treatment or continuous flow systems, this LDH showed stable and excellent removal effects, showing engineering application potential in municipal water supply and industrial wastewater treatment.
The team also gave new ideas for another major problem in PFAS governance - the complete destruction of pollutants. Working with Pedro Alvarez and James Tull of Rice University, Zhong Yongkun developed a thermal decomposition process: Heating adsorption-saturated LDH with calcium carbonate can break down and "mineralize" more than half of the captured PFAS without releasing toxic by-products. What's more, the process also regenerates the active material so it can be reused.
Preliminary research shows that this material can complete at least six complete "capture-destruction-regeneration" cycles, and is regarded by the research team as the first environmentally friendly system to integrate PFAS removal and sustainable recycling. Project leader Wang said that this unique LDH technology is expected to change the way PFAS-contaminated water is treated in the near future, and the achievement of the results is inseparable from transnational cooperation and the creativity of young researchers.
The related paper, titled "A Renewable Water Treatment Platform for Ultrarapid Capture and Mineralization of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances," was published in the journal Advanced Materials on September 25, 2025. The research was funded by the National Research Foundation of Korea, the Saudi Aramco–KAIST Carbon Dioxide Management Program, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineering Research and Development Center, the Rice University Sustainability Institute, and the WaTER Institute.
Compiled from /ScitechDaily