• DOI:10.1038/s41929-020-00518-5
• Corpus ID: 222299492

Microwave-initiated catalytic deconstruction of plastic waste into hydrogen and high-value carbons

@article{Jie2020MicrowaveinitiatedCD,
  title={Microwave-initiated catalytic deconstruction of plastic waste into hydrogen and high-value carbons},
  author={Xiangyu Jie and Weisong Li and Daniel R. Slocombe and Yige Gao and Ira Banerjee and Sergio Gonzalez-Cortes and Benzhen Yao and Hamid A. A. Almegren and Saeed M. Alshihri and Jonathan R. Dilworth and John Meurig Thomas and Tiancun Xiao and Peter P. Edwards},
  journal={Nature Catalysis},
  year={2020},
  volume={3},
  pages={902 - 912}
}

• X. Jie, Weisong Li, +10 authors P. Edwards
• Published 12 October 2020
• Materials Science
• Nature Catalysis

The ubiquitous challenge of plastic waste has led to the modern descriptor plastisphere to represent the human-made plastic environment and ecosystem. Here we report a straightforward rapid method for the catalytic deconstruction of various plastic feedstocks into hydrogen and high-value carbons. We use microwaves together with abundant and inexpensive iron-based catalysts as microwave susceptors to initiate the catalytic deconstruction process. The one-step process typically takes 30–90 s to transform a sample of mechanically pulverized commercial plastic into hydrogen and (predominantly) multiwalled carbon nanotubes. A high hydrogen yield of 55.6 mmol gplastic−1\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$${\mathrm{g}}_{\mathrm{plastic}}^{ - 1}$$\end{document} is achieved, with over 97% of the theoretical mass of hydrogen being extracted from the deconstructed plastic. The approach is demonstrated on widely used, real-world plastic waste. This proof-of-concept advance highlights the potential of plastic waste itself as a valuable energy feedstock for the production of hydrogen and high-value carbon materials. The valorisation of plastic waste is highly desirable from an environmental perspective but generally yields low-value products. Now a method is disclosed to deconstruct plastic feedstocks into high-value hydrogen and carbon materials by means of an iron-based catalyst under microwave irradiation.