Advanced adsorbent materials for the removal of PFAS from water: challenges, progress, and future directions

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are synthetic chemicals widely used for their resistance to heat, water, and oil, which also confers exceptional environmental persistence and promotes accumulation across ecosystems and organisms. Strong carbon-fluorine bonding and extensive industrial usage contribute toward widespread contamination affecting water quality, food safety, and soil integrity across global environments. PFAS enter the environment through industrial discharges, wastewater treatment plants, landfills, firefighting foams, and consumer products such as non-stick cookware, water-repellent textiles, food packaging, and personal care items. They contaminate water, soil, and air and may enter agricultural systems, thereby influencing crop quality and food safety. Human exposure occurs primarily through consumption of contaminated drinking water and food, with additional exposure via inhalation, skin contact, and ingestion of dust. Freshwater organisms frequently exhibit higher PFAS concentrations than marine species, increasing dietary exposure risks. PFAS exposure has been associated with immune suppression, endocrine disruption, liver damage, reproductive effects, elevated cholesterol levels, and cancer. Ecologically, PFAS alter microbial community structure and accumulate within wildlife and food webs. Conventional water treatment processes show minimal effectiveness against PFAS, intensifying research on adsorbent- and hybrid treatment-based remediation under the pollutant toxic ions and molecules research theme. This review emphasizes progress with activated carbon (AC), ion exchange resins, mineral sorbents, membranes, and destruction technologies, as well as emerging materials such as metal-organic frameworks, covalent organic frameworks, and polymeric or nanocomposite sorbents, while highlighting performance constraints, regeneration challenges, operational limitations, and critical gaps for scalable and sustainable PFAS management.