Selective electrocatalytic reforming of PET-derived ethylene glycol to formate with a Faraday efficiency of 93.2% at industrial-level current densities

The accumulation of plastic waste results in severe environmental pollution and enormous losses of valuable resources, and thus recycling plastic waste has become an urgent scientific and social challenge. Herein, we report the electrocatalytic reforming of polyethylene terephthalate (PET)-derived ethylene glycol (EG) to formate by using a Ni(OH)2/Ni foam catalyst, which exhibits > 90% Faraday efficiency and selectivity even at industrially relevant current densities (>500 mA cm-2 at 1.60 V vs RHE). In-situ electrochemical Raman spectroscopy reveals that NiOOH can be swiftly formed at a relatively low potential in the presence of EG and plays a crucial role toward PET-derived EG oxidation. The massive production of NiOOH leads to a large potential gap of 430 mV at 100 mA cm-2 compared to the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), hence improving the Faraday efficiency of EGOR. This work highlights the promising potential of electrocatalytic reforming of PET for practical applications.