Converting waste PET plastics into automobile fuels and antifreeze components

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/SiO2 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 degrees 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. To solve the serious problem of white plastic pollution many degradation routes are being investigated. Here the authors show a H-2-free low-cost Cu/SiO2 catalyzed process to quantitatively convert polyethylene terephthalate into p-xylene and ethylene glycol in one pot with methanol as both the solvent and hydrogen source at 210 degrees C.

Automated summary

To address the serious issue of white plastic pollution, the authors present a low-cost Cu/SiO2 catalyzed process that uses methanol as both solvent and hydrogen donor to quantitatively convert polyethylene terephthalate into p-xylene and ethylene glycol at 210 degrees C with no need for hydrogen.