The “Midas touch”: Photothermal catalysis enables recycling of plastic waste

Recently in Matter, Chen and co-workers proposed an efficient solar thermal catalytic technology based on elaborately designed multi-walled carbon nanotubes premodified with polydopamine (CNT-PDA) for upcycling plastic waste into high-value-added chemicals. Thanks to the strong local photothermal effect, the developed solar thermal catalytic technology exhibits a 3.7 GJ lower energy consumption and 0.4 ton lower CO2 emissions in recycling each ton of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) than traditional electrically driven thermal catalysis. Moreover, selective monomer recycling from plastic mixtures together with outdoor work feasibility enables further promotions in the industrial and commercial fields and even the ultimate realization of global carbon neutralization. Recently in Matter, Chen and co-workers proposed an efficient solar thermal catalytic technology based on elaborately designed multi-walled carbon nanotubes premodified with polydopamine (CNT-PDA) for upcycling plastic waste into high-value-added chemicals. Thanks to the strong local photothermal effect, the developed solar thermal catalytic technology exhibits a 3.7 GJ lower energy consumption and 0.4 ton lower CO2 emissions in recycling each ton of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) than traditional electrically driven thermal catalysis. Moreover, selective monomer recycling from plastic mixtures together with outdoor work feasibility enables further promotions in the industrial and commercial fields and even the ultimate realization of global carbon neutralization. Solar thermal catalysis for sustainable and efficient polyester upcyclingLiu et al.MatterFebruary 24, 2022In BriefSpent plastics have become an urgent global issue, as their products can exist for several centuries in natural conditions while their production has soared to 360 million tons annually. Efficient recycling of plastics, therefore, represents environmental protection, energy sustainability, and economic benefits. The use of sunlight to drive the upcycling of plastics not only solves the waste plastic issue but also realizes the conversion and storage of solar energy to chemical energy. Full-Text PDF Open Archive