IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v13y2022i1d10.1038_s41467-022-31078-w.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Converting waste PET plastics into automobile fuels and antifreeze components

Author

Listed:
  • Zhiwen Gao

    (East China Normal University
    Institute of Eco-chongming)

  • Bing Ma

    (East China Normal University
    Institute of Eco-chongming)

  • Shuang Chen

    (East China Normal University
    Institute of Eco-chongming)

  • Jingqing Tian

    (East China Normal University
    Institute of Eco-chongming)

  • Chen Zhao

    (East China Normal University
    Institute of Eco-chongming)

Abstract

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 H2 from methanol decomposition at 210 °C. The overall high activities are attributed to the high Cu+/Cu0 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.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhiwen Gao & Bing Ma & Shuang Chen & Jingqing Tian & Chen Zhao, 2022. "Converting waste PET plastics into automobile fuels and antifreeze components," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-31078-w
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31078-w
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-31078-w
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-022-31078-w?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hairong Yue & Yujun Zhao & Shuo Zhao & Bo Wang & Xinbin Ma & Jinlong Gong, 2013. "A copper-phyllosilicate core-sheath nanoreactor for carbon–oxygen hydrogenolysis reactions," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 4(1), pages 1-7, December.
    2. Hua Zhou & Yue Ren & Zhenhua Li & Ming Xu & Ye Wang & Ruixiang Ge & Xianggui Kong & Lirong Zheng & Haohong Duan, 2021. "Electrocatalytic upcycling of polyethylene terephthalate to commodity chemicals and H2 fuel," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-9, December.
    3. Ingrid E. Meyer-Cifuentes & Johannes Werner & Nico Jehmlich & Sabine E. Will & Meina Neumann-Schaal & Başak Öztürk, 2020. "Synergistic biodegradation of aromatic-aliphatic copolyester plastic by a marine microbial consortium," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-13, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jingjing Cao & Huaxing Liang & Jie Yang & Zhiyang Zhu & Jin Deng & Xiaodong Li & Menachem Elimelech & Xinglin Lu, 2024. "Depolymerization mechanisms and closed-loop assessment in polyester waste recycling," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gui Zhao & Jiayi Lin & Mengying Lu & Lina Li & Pengtao Xu & Xi Liu & Liwei Chen, 2024. "Potential cycling boosts the electrochemical conversion of polyethylene terephthalate-derived alcohol into valuable chemicals," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Yuantao Peng & Jie Yang & Chenqiang Deng & Jin Deng & Li Shen & Yao Fu, 2023. "Acetolysis of waste polyethylene terephthalate for upcycling and life-cycle assessment study," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    3. Kumar, Manish & Bolan, Shiv & Padhye, Lokesh P. & Konarova, Muxina & Foong, Shin Ying & Lam, Su Shiung & Wagland, Stuart & Cao, Runzi & Li, Yang & Batalha, Nuno & Ahmed, Mohamed & Pandey, Ashok & Sidd, 2023. "Retrieving back plastic wastes for conversion to value added petrochemicals: opportunities, challenges and outlooks," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 345(C).
    4. Jun Qi & Yadong Du & Qi Yang & Na Jiang & Jiachun Li & Yi Ma & Yangjun Ma & Xin Zhao & Jieshan Qiu, 2023. "Energy-saving and product-oriented hydrogen peroxide electrosynthesis enabled by electrochemistry pairing and product engineering," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    5. Hua Zhou & Yue Ren & Bingxin Yao & Zhenhua Li & Ming Xu & Lina Ma & Xianggui Kong & Lirong Zheng & Mingfei Shao & Haohong Duan, 2023. "Scalable electrosynthesis of commodity chemicals from biomass by suppressing non-Faradaic transformations," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    6. Jingkai Lin & Kunsheng Hu & Yantao Wang & Wenjie Tian & Tony Hall & Xiaoguang Duan & Hongqi Sun & Huayang Zhang & Emiliano Cortés & Shaobin Wang, 2024. "Tandem microplastic degradation and hydrogen production by hierarchical carbon nitride-supported single-atom iron catalysts," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    7. Li, Jie & Yu, Di & Pan, Lanjia & Xu, Xinhai & Wang, Xiaonan & Wang, Yin, 2023. "Recent advances in plastic waste pyrolysis for liquid fuel production: Critical factors and machine learning applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 346(C).
    8. Yuyang Pan & Huiyan Zhang & Bowen Zhang & Feng Gong & Jianyong Feng & Huiting Huang & Srinivas Vanka & Ronglei Fan & Qi Cao & Mingrong Shen & Zhaosheng Li & Zhigang Zou & Rui Xiao & Sheng Chu, 2023. "Renewable formate from sunlight, biomass and carbon dioxide in a photoelectrochemical cell," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    9. Dawei Yao & Yue Wang & Ying Li & Antai Li & Ziheng Zhen & Jing Lv & Fanfei Sun & Ruoou Yang & Jun Luo & Zheng Jiang & Yong Wang & Xinbin Ma, 2023. "Scalable synthesis of Cu clusters for remarkable selectivity control of intermediates in consecutive hydrogenation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    10. Yingxuan Miao & Yunxuan Zhao & Geoffrey I. N. Waterhouse & Run Shi & Li-Zhu Wu & Tierui Zhang, 2023. "Photothermal recycling of waste polyolefin plastics into liquid fuels with high selectivity under solvent-free conditions," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    11. Tongtong Li & Boran Wang & Yu Cao & Zhexuan Liu & Shaogang Wang & Qi Zhang & Jie Sun & Guangmin Zhou, 2024. "Energy-saving hydrogen production by seawater electrolysis coupling tip-enhanced electric field promoted electrocatalytic sulfion oxidation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    12. Yining Sun & Kui Fan & Jinze Li & Lei Wang & Yusen Yang & Zhenhua Li & Mingfei Shao & Xue Duan, 2024. "Boosting electrochemical oxygen reduction to hydrogen peroxide coupled with organic oxidation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    13. Mengyun Hou & Lirong Zheng & Di Zhao & Xin Tan & Wuyi Feng & Jiantao Fu & Tianxin Wei & Minhua Cao & Jiatao Zhang & Chen Chen, 2024. "Microenvironment reconstitution of highly active Ni single atoms on oxygen-incorporated Mo2C for water splitting," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    14. Chen, Zhijie & Wei, Wei & Chen, Xueming & Liu, Yiwen & Shen, Yansong & Ni, Bing-Jie, 2024. "Upcycling of plastic wastes for hydrogen production: Advances and perspectives," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    15. Chen, Ning & Li, Xianyue & Shi, Haibin & Zhang, Yuehong & Hu, Qi & Sun, Ya’nan, 2023. "Modeling effects of biodegradable film mulching on evapotranspiration and crop yields in Inner Mongolia," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    16. Eleanor A. Sheridan & Jérémy A. Fonvielle & Samuel Cottingham & Yi Zhang & Thorsten Dittmar & David C. Aldridge & Andrew J. Tanentzap, 2022. "Plastic pollution fosters more microbial growth in lakes than natural organic matter," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-31078-w. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.