Hydrocracking of LDPE Plastic Waste into Liquid Fuel over Sulfated Zirconia from a Commercial Zirconia Nanopowder

Hydrocracking of LDPE plastic waste into liquid fuel was conducted by using sulfated zirconia (SZ) and Cr metal supported on SZ (Cr/SZ) catalysts. Catalysts were prepared and characterized by SEM-EDS, SAA, and TGA-DTA. The liquid produced was characterized by GC-MS. The characterization result showed the sulfate group was successfully impregnated on ZrO2 nanopowder with the higher content of S and O than ZrO2 and then decreased after addition of Cr metal as confirmed in SEM-EDS result. All catalysts were in mesoporous material as observed by SAA characterization and also showed the highest specific surface area of Cr/SZ catalyst of 14.56 m(2)g(-1). The catalytic activity increased by the presence of Cr on SZ with liquid produced about 40.15%. Hydrocracking process also increased the gasoline fraction and the highest gasoline fraction was produced by Cr/SZ catalyst at about 89.91%.