Catalytic recycling of plastics into value-added products
Tianyu Wei, Pengcheng Zhou, Wenxian Liu, Xijun Liu, Tairong Kuang
Abstract
The overuse and ineffective management of plastics have led to significant environmental pollution. Catalytic upcycling into value-added chemicals has emerged as a promising solution. This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances in catalytic upcycling, focusing on the cleavage of chemical bonds such as carbon-carbon (C-C), carbon-oxygen (C-O), and carbon-hydrogen (C-H) in plastics. It systematically discusses plastics conversion via electrocatalysis, thermal catalysis, and photocatalysis. Additionally, it explores the conversion of plastics into value-added chemicals and functional polymers. The review also addresses the challenges in this field and aims to offer insights for developing sustainable and effective plastics upcycling technologies.