Solar-driven reforming of waste polyester plastics into hydrogen over CdS/NiS catalyst

Huge amounts of plastic products are produced, utilized, and discarded each year, contributing to the increasingly serious ecological problem. Photoreforming, a solar-driven technology, provides an uncomplicated route to simultaneously recycle plastics and facilitate hydrogen (H2) production. Herein, we proposed innovative CdS/NiS composites which used visible light to drive H2 evolution from plastic wastes. Results confirmed that the loading of NiS on CdS could facilitate the transmission of photoexcited electrons, which greatly improved the photocatalytic performance. The H2 production capability of CdS/NiS was more than 6 times higher than that of pure CdS, and the highest H2 yield reached 62.9 mmol g−1 h−1 under optimized conditions when polylactic acid (PLA) was treated. Typical polyester plastics, including polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polybutylene adipate (PBA), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), and poly (butyleneadipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT), as well as raw PLA drink straws, were also successfully employed as the hole scavenger to enhance H2 generation. This system utilized abundant resources (solar energy and waste plastics) and worked under mild conditions, proffering a sustainable approach for H2 synthesis together with waste plastic pollutant reduction for a carbon-neutral future.