Upcycling of PET waste into methane-rich gas and hierarchical porous carbon for high-performance supercapacitor by autogenic pressure pyrolysis and activation

The explosive growth of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) wastes has brought serious pollution to the environment. Here, PET waste was upcycled into methane-rich pyrolysis gas and carbon material for energy storage through autogenic pressure pyrolysis and post-activation. The pyrolysis gas contained 34.58 +/- 0.23 vol% CH4. After CO2 removal, the high caloric value of the pyrolysis gas could reach 29.2 MJ m(-3), which could be used as a substitute natural gas. Pyrolytic carbon was further activated by KOH and ZnCl2. KOH-activated carbon (AC-K) obtained a hierarchical porous structure, a high specific surface area of 2683 m(2) g(-1) and abundant surface functional groups. Working as supercapacitor electrodes, AC-K exhibited an outstanding specific capacitance of 325 F g(-1) at a current density of 0.5 A g(-1). After 5000 charge discharge cycles, AC K still retained 91.86% of the initial spedfic capacitance. This study provides a sustainable way to control plastic-derived pollution and alleviate the energy crisis. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study explores a sustainable approach to upcycle PET waste into methane-rich pyrolysis gas and carbon materials for energy storage. The activated carbon materials prepared through post-activation exhibit excellent performance as electrodes in supercapacitors, showing promise for mitigating plastic pollution and addressing the energy crisis.