Journal article

Enzymatic Degradation of PFAS: Current Status and Ongoing Challenges

BA Harris, J Zhou, BO Clarke, IKH Leung

ChemSusChem | Wiley | Published : 2025

Open access

Abstract

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are often considered the quintessential example of industrial chemical pollution – they are toxic and ubiquitous environmental contaminants that are extremely difficult to degrade. There has been a large research focus on the development of effective and renewable degradation technologies. In comparison to traditional pollutant degradation techniques, such as advanced oxidation processes and electrochemistry, degradation of PFAS using extracellular enzymes offers an eco-friendly solution as enzymes are biodegradable, recyclable and have low energy and chemical requirements. This review outlines the current understanding of extracellular enzymatic de..

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Grants

Funding Acknowledgements

The graphical abstract, table of contents graphic and Figure 1 were created with BioRender.com. We acknowledge the financial support received from the University of Melbourne. IKHL acknowledges the financial support received from the Selby Scientific Foundation. BAH acknowledges the financial support received from the Norma Hilda Schuster (nee Swift) Scholarship. Open Access publishing facilitated by The University of Melbourne, as part of the Wiley - The University of Melbourne agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians. Open Access publishing facilitated by The University of Melbourne, as part of the Wiley - The University of Melbourne agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians.