Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances chemical degradation strategies: insights into the underlying reaction mechanisms

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are highly recalcitrant environmental contaminants that pose a serious threat to living species. As such, many chemical degradation techniques have been proposed and investigated for the efficient destruction of PFAS. A complete and efficient mineralization of high-profile and chemically diverse PFAS contaminants remains an elusive challenge facing society. The underlying reaction mechanisms for PFAS degradation approaches typically involve defluorination, cleavage of the polar head group, or thermal unimolecular reaction. These initial reaction mechanisms and subsequent reaction channels of intermediates will be discussed for various degradation strategies. This contribution aims to highlight recent efforts elucidating PFAS chemical degradation mechanisms to facilitate the advancement of PFAS destruction methods.