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Photocatalysis

Breaking robust chemical bonds with sunlight

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances are widely distributed, persistent contaminants in water that pose serious risks to environmental and human health. Now, a sunlight-powered and flow-compatible photocatalytic platform enables the cleavage of robust C–F bonds under mild and scalable conditions, opening up a sustainable route for PFAS decontamination.

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Fig. 1: Sunlight-driven photocatalytic destruction of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and its benefits.

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Correspondence to Zhurui Shen.

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Duan, Y., Shen, Z. Breaking robust chemical bonds with sunlight. Nat Water 4, 271–272 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-026-00602-3

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