Nitrogen-doped Ni3P–NiMoO4 heterostructure arrays for coupling hydrogen production with polyethylene terephthalate plastic electro-recycling

The global plastic pollution problem has seriously affected the survival of natural and human organisms. Electrochemical polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic reforming powered by renewable electricity, is expected to provide an environmentally friendly, convenient, and efficient way to recycle plastics. Herein, we synthesized a heterostructure array catalyst of nitrogen-doped Ni3P–NiMoO4 on nickel foam (N–Ni3P–NiMoO4/NF) for coupling PET waste plastic electro-recycling and hydrogen production. Due to the rich catalytic active sites provided by the heterogeneous interface structure, N–Ni3P–NiMoO4/NF can achieve a low hydrogen evolution overpotential of 142 mV with a current density of 100 mA cm−2. The PET hydrolysate-containing electrolyte had a potential of 194 mV lower than that of conventional water splitting at a current density of 100 mA cm−2 and catalyze the conversion of PET hydrolysate to formate efficiently with a maximum Faraday efficiency of 92.2%. This work provides a new strategy and approach for upcycling resource utilization and energy-saving hydrogen production of PET waste plastic.