Advanced Energy Materials,
Journal Year:
2024,
Volume and Issue:
unknown
Published: Dec. 12, 2024
Abstract
Deconstruction
of
polyethylene
terephthalate
(PET)
plastics
into
commodity
chemicals
such
as
glycine
presents
a
promising
route
for
waste
valorization.
However,
directly
upcycling
PET
via
thermocatalysis
typically
requires
harsh
conditions
(e.g.,
high
H
2
pressure
and
elevated
temperature)
while
suffering
from
limited
selectivity
carbon
footprint.
Herein,
cascade
thermochemical–electrochemical
catalysis
is
developed
to
exploit
end‐of‐life
with
yield,
without
the
use
hydrogen
gas
in
entire
process.
first
degraded
oxalic
acid
thermochemical
oxidative
depolymerization
using
an
active
robust
HY‐zeolite‐supported
Au
catalyst
under
low
O
(0.3
MPa),
then
valorize
intermediate
two‐step
electroreduction
over
earth‐abundant
TiO
catalyst.
The
proposed
approach
resilient
impurities
realistic
streams,
enables
continuous
conversion
various
goods
overall
yield
75%.
Techno‐economic
analysis
life
cycle
assessment
demonstrate
that
cost‐effective
low‐carbon
upcycling.
This
hybrid
technology
paves
way
leverage
mitigating
plastic
pollution
producing
high‐value
chemicals.
Green Chemistry,
Journal Year:
2023,
Volume and Issue:
25(23), P. 9818 - 9825
Published: Jan. 1, 2023
A
CuIn
5
S
8
nanosheet
photocatalyst
with
oxygen
incorporation
was
developed,
the
aim
of
converting
PET
plastic
into
commodity
chemicals
paired
water
splitting
hydrogen.
Nano Letters,
Journal Year:
2024,
Volume and Issue:
24(31), P. 9768 - 9775
Published: July 26, 2024
Excessive
production
of
waste
polyethylene
terephthalate
(PET)
poses
an
ecological
challenge,
which
necessitates
developing
technologies
to
extract
the
values
from
end-of-life
PET.
Upcycling
has
proven
effective
in
addressing
low
profitability
current
recycling
strategies,
yet
existing
upcycling
operate
under
energy-intensive
conditions.
Here
we
report
a
cascade
strategy
steer
transformation
PET
into
glycolate
overall
yield
92.6%
ambient
The
approach
involves
setting
up
robust
hydrolase
with
95.6%
depolymerization
ethylene
glycol
(EG)
monomer
within
12
h,
followed
by
electrochemical
process
initiated
CO-tolerant
Pd/Ni(OH)
Small,
Journal Year:
2024,
Volume and Issue:
unknown
Published: Sept. 2, 2024
Abstract
Electrochemical
upcycling
of
end‐of‐life
polyethylene
terephthalate
(PET)
using
renewable
electricity
offers
a
route
to
generate
valuable
chemicals
while
processing
plastic
wastes.
However,
it
remains
huge
challenge
design
an
electrocatalyst
with
reliable
structure‐property
relationships
for
PET
valorization.
Herein,
spinel
Co
3
O
4
rich
oxygen
vacancies
improved
activity
toward
formic
acid
(FA)
production
from
hydrolysate
is
reported.
Experimental
investigations
combined
theoretical
calculations
reveal
that
incorporation
V
into
not
only
promotes
the
generation
reactive
hydroxyl
species
(OH
*
)
at
adjacent
tetrahedral
2+
(Co2+
Td),
but
also
induces
electronic
structure
transition
octahedral
3+
(Co3+
Oh)
Oh),
which
typically
functions
as
highly‐active
catalytic
sites
ethylene
glycol
(EG)
chemisorption.
Moreover,
enlarged
Co‐O
covalency
induced
by
facilitates
electron
transfer
EG
OH
via
Co2+
Oh‐O‐Co2+
Td
interaction
and
following
C─C
bond
cleavage
direct
oxidation
glyoxal
intermediate
pathway.
As
result,
‐Co
catalyst
exhibits
high
half‐cell
oxidation,
Faradaic
efficiency
(91%)
productivity
(1.02
mmol
cm
−2
h
−1
FA.
Lastly,
demonstrated
hundred
gram‐scale
formate
crystals
can
be
produced
real‐world
bottles
two‐electrode
electroreforming,
yield
82%.
