Ball milling breaks PFAS down into industrially useful fluoride source

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) – the persistent, bio-accumulative anthropogenic pollutants colloquially known as ‘forever chemicals’ – can be mechanochemically broken down into fluoride sources for industrially important molecules, researchers in the UK and US have shown.¹ The process, which followed a serendipitous discovery, could potentially reduce demand for fluorspar (calcium fluoride), which is considered a critical mineral in many parts of the world.