Researchers from Rice University have developed a method to recycle PFAS waste into graphene, a high-value material with a wide range of applications. By utilizing flash joule heating to heat granular activated carbon (GAC) saturated with PFAS to over 3,000 degrees Celsius, the carbon fluorine bonds break down into non-toxic fluoride salts and the GAC is upcycled into graphene. Tests have yielded 96% defluorination efficiency overall and 99.98% efficiency with certain common PFAS chemicals. The process can be tailored to produce other carbon-based materials including nanotubes and nanodiamonds. This method shows great potential to control PFAS pollution at zero net cost and with scalability for industrial or wide-ranging applications.