Polyethylene Upgrading to Liquid Fuels Boosted by Atomic Ce Promoters

Hydrocracking catalysis is a key route to plastic waste upgrading, but the acid site-driven C-C cleavage step is relatively sluggish in conventional bifunctional catalysts, dramatically effecting the overall efficiency. We demonstrate here a facile and efficient way to boost the reactivity of acid sites by introducing Ce promoters into Pt/HY catalysts, thus achieving a better metal-acid balance. Remarkably, 100 % of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) can be converted with 80.9 % selectivity of liquid fuels over the obtained Pt/5Ce-HY catalysts at 300 °C in 2 h. For comparison, Pt/HY only gives 38.8 % of LDPE conversion with 21.3 % selectivity of liquid fuels. Through multiple experimental studies on the structure-performance relationship, the Ce species occupied in the supercage are identified as the actual active sites, which possess remarkably-improved adsorption capability towards short-chain intermediates.