Jie, Xiangyu, Li, Weisong, Slocombe, Daniel  ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3590-6075, Gao, Yige, Banerjee, Ira, Gonzalez-Cortes, Sergio, Yao, Benzhen, AlMegren, Hamid, Alshihri, Saeed, Dilworth, Jonathan, Thomas, John, Xiao, Tiancun and Edwards, Peter
2020.
Microwave-initiated catalytic deconstruction of plastic waste into hydrogen and high-value carbons.
Nature Catalysis
3
, pp. 902-912.
10.1038/s41929-020-00518-5
|
Preview |
PDF
- Accepted Post-Print Version
Download (430kB) | Preview |
Abstract
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 g−1plastic 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.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Date Type: | Publication |
| Status: | Published |
| Schools: | Schools > Engineering |
| Publisher: | Nature Research |
| ISSN: | 2520-1158 |
| Date of First Compliant Deposit: | 2 November 2020 |
| Date of Acceptance: | 1 September 2020 |
| Last Modified: | 05 Dec 2024 07:00 |
| URI: | https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/135914 |
Citation Data
Cited 128 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data
Actions (repository staff only)
 |
Edit Item |
Dimensions
Dimensions