Converting waste PET plastics into automobile fuels and antifreeze components.
Zhiwen GaoBing MaShuang ChenJingqing TianChen ZhaoPublished in: Nature communications (2022)
With the aim to solve the serious problem of white plastic pollution, we report herein a low-cost process to quantitatively convert polyethylene terephthalate (PET) into p-xylene (PX) and ethylene glycol (EG) over modified Cu/SiO 2 catalyst using methanol as both solvent and hydrogen donor. Kinetic and in-situ Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) studies demonstrate that the degradation of PET into PX involves tandem PET methanolysis and dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) selective hydro-deoxygenation (HDO) steps with the in-situ produced H 2 from methanol decomposition at 210 °C. The overall high activities are attributed to the high Cu + /Cu 0 ratio derived from the dense and granular copper silicate precursor, as formed by the induction of proper NaCl addition during the hydrothermal synthesis. This hydrogen-free one-pot approach allows to directly produce gasoline fuels and antifreeze components from waste poly-ester plastic, providing a feasible solution to the plastic problem in islands.
Keyphrases
- pet ct
- positron emission tomography
- computed tomography
- low cost
- heavy metals
- pet imaging
- sewage sludge
- metal organic framework
- carbon dioxide
- ionic liquid
- risk assessment
- municipal solid waste
- particulate matter
- aqueous solution
- visible light
- room temperature
- air pollution
- human health
- health risk assessment
- climate change
- reduced graphene oxide
- case control