Scientists Ask: Can Nanotech And Microbes Partner To Destroy PFAS? Diana Aga, Henry M. Woodburn Professor of Chemistry at the University at Buffalo. Aga is the project's principal investigator. Researchers will use analytical and computational techniques to understand, in detail, how PFAS degrade at each step of the proposed treatment process Imagine this: In a wastewater treatment plant, engineered molecular-scale scissors chop up PFAS, toxic compounds that are so tough to break down that they’re called “forever chemicals.” Then, microbes digest the molecular scraps, clearing them from the water. In a new project, researchers from the University at Buffalo and University of Pittsburgh are teaming up to design the approaches and tools that would make such a system possible. The group will seek to develop advanced catalytic carbon-metal nanomaterials that react with and snip PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), and to identify and isolate bacteria capable of consuming the sliced-up toxins.