Electro-Reforming Polyethylene Terephthalate Plastic to Co-Produce Valued Chemicals and Green Hydrogen

Upcycling plastic waste pollution for sustainable resources and energy is an ideal solution to plastic waste-related environmental issues. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), one of the most prominent single-use daily plastics with up to millions of tons produced annually, has recently been explored with respect to chemical recycling to ameliorate its environmental impact. In this work, we report an electrochemical upcycling approach to electrocatalytic oxidation of PET hydrolysate using Cu-based nanowire catalysts. We demonstrate that the electrocatalyst can catalyze the ethylene glycol (EG) molecule derived from PET waste toward formate with high selectivity and exhibit a lower onset potential for EG oxidation than for water oxidation. Experimental and density functional theory calculation results reveal that the oxidation pathway of EG on CuO can selectively break the C-C bond to generate formic acid. This work sheds light on employing earth-abundant metal catalysts to convert PET plastic waste to produce valued chemicals and green hydrogen.

Automated summary

Upcycling plastic waste pollution for sustainable resources and energy is an ideal solution to environmental issues. This study reports an electrochemical upcycling approach using Cu-based nanowire catalysts to oxidize PET waste and produce valued chemicals and green hydrogen.