The power of sunlight could help remove PFAS from water

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-03-02 21:00

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Australian and Chinese researchers have developed a sunlight-powered way to remove PFAS contamination from water, opening a pathway to potentially remove the ‘forever chemical’. The system uses a catalyst that is triggered by sunlight to break down PFAS chemicals in around 8-10 hours. The researchers say this showcases a promising route towards practical, energy-efficient PFAS remediation.

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Journal/
conference: Nature Water

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Adelaide University, The University of Sydney

Funder: Open access funding provided by Adelaide University. We acknowledge the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 22376124 and 22206113 to Q.Z.), the Taishan Scholars Project Special Fund (grant no. tsqn202211039 to Q.Z.), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (grant no. 2024YFA0918804 to R.L.), Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation (grant no. ZR2023JQ007 to R.L.), Key R&D Program of Shandong Province, China (grant no. 2025CXPT017 to R.L.), Canada Research Chairs Program (grant no. CRC-2019-00253 to D.M.) and the Royal Society ISPF-International Collaboration Awards (grant no. ICA\ R1\231046 to F.M.).

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