Eradicating Forever Chemicals

UGA researchers are leading efforts to remove PFAS from the environment

Water, oil, stain, fire, and heat resistant.

These are some of the traits that made PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, so appealing to industries ranging from food packaging and cosmetics to firefighting and textiles.

But these traits are also what make these chemicals problematic.

A group photo of the lab team of Crop & Soil Sciences professor Qingguo Huang (Jack), middle in jacket, in their lab at the Griffin Campus.

Qingguo "Jack" Huang (front row with brown suit) and his research team in their UGA laboratory.

As researchers, it’s important to keep pushing the boundary. To drive forward, you have to have the vision of what is needed.
Qingguo “Jack” Huang, Professor of Crop & Soil Sciences

Qingguo "Jack" Huang in his lab as graduate students work in the background.

Nicknamed “forever chemicals,” PFAS are man-made chemicals that don’t ever really break down. Instead, they accumulate in the environment over time, gradually building up in everything from the soil to animals. They’re in our water, our air, and even our bodies.

There are thousands of PFAS, yet current technologies can only identify a small portion of them. Even when they are detected, traditional technologies can’t remove or eliminate the chemicals.

In the meantime, the carcinogens are causing irreparable harm.

That’s why University of Georgia researchers are refining and developing innovative techniques to detect, track, and break down PFAS.

Supported by a nearly $1.6 million grant from the EPA, researchers from the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and College of Engineering are developing improved, cost-effective treatment systems with advanced technologies for removing PFAS from water, wastewater, and biosolids.

A more practical solution to a persistent problem

Qingguo “Jack” Huang, primary investigator on the EPA-funded project and a professor in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, discovered an electrochemical process that uses specialized anode materials to oxidize and degrade PFAS in water.

Through a process called electrochemical oxidation, the specially designed electrodes—made of titanium suboxides—can break down carbon-fluorine bonds, leading to the destruction of PFAS.

Licensed by a global engineering consulting firm, his creation, DE-FLUORO, is the first eco-friendly destruction technology that prevents further environmental contamination by eradicating “forever chemicals” rather than merely containing them.

Due to their strong chemical bonds, existing technologies have focused on extracting PFAS from contaminated water. Now, based on Huang’s technology, PFAS can be degraded in the water. It’s a more practical and cost-effective approach to a persistent problem.

Huang’s team is also investigating a biological approach that would utilize enzymes and fungal strains to devour PFAS compounds. The hope is that this process can facilitate transformation of PFAS in soil and reduce concentrations of the dangerous chemicals over time.

“Because this is such a widespread and tough problem to deal with, it’s going to take some time to thoroughly address,” Huang said. “There still isn’t a great replacement technology to use in many everyday products that we rely on.

“As researchers, it’s important to keep pushing the boundary. To drive forward, you have to have the vision of what is needed.”

Graduate student Yuqing Ji works with a reactive electrochemical membrane in Huang’s laboratory.

Post doc researcher Xi Zhu works on a computer with her models in the Huang's lab.

Qingguo "Jack" Huang talks with graduate student Umar Munir as they work in his lab at the Griffin Campus.