Roadmap to Catalytic Abatement of Gas Phase Per‐ and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)

Abstract

Abstract While the outstanding stability of per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) paved the way for their widespread application in a huge variety of applications, it also resulted in their nickname “forever chemicals”. The rising awareness for PFAS‐related environmental and health concerns drives a discussion on the most effective ways to abate PFAS emissions into the environment, i.e. water, soil, and air, and remediation of contaminated matter. In order to address the knowledge gap regarding air pollution by PFAS, this minireview summarizes the current corpus of work in the field and outlines how catalysis can contribute to PFAS abatement in the gas phase. Beyond a mere collection of state‐of‐the‐art knowledge, overarching challenges in catalytic PFAS removal are identified, spanning from fundamental organic and inorganic chemistry, i.e. C−F‐bond activation, to heterogeneous catalysis, i.e. surface reactions at the gas‐solid interface, to reaction engineering, i.e. scaling relations and technical hurdles. In addition, the article introduces concepts and workflows that aim at providing guidance during the design of technological solutions for the efficient control of gaseous PFAS emissions.