Hydrogenolysis‐Isomerization of Waste Polyolefin Plastics to Multibranched Liquid Alkanes
Bowen Du, Xiao Chen, Yu Ling, Tiantian Niu, Weixiang Guan, Jipeng Meng, Haoquan Hu, Chi‐Wing Tsang, Changhai Liang
Abstract
Abstract Upcycling of waste polyolefin plastics still meets with economic and technological challenges in practice. In this work, the catalytic hydrogenolysis‐isomerization of nondegradable polyolefin plastic waste to high‐value gasoline, diesel, and light lubricants with highly branched chain is achieved over a bifunctional Rh/Nb 2 O 5 catalyst under relatively mild conditions. Owing to the high efficiency of metallic Rh active sites, the dehydrogenation/hydrogenation of long carbon chains of polyolefins is enhanced. With the assistance of strong Brønsted acidity of Nb 2 O 5 , the cleavage of C−C bonds, skeletal rearrangements, as well as the β‐scission of alkylcarbenium ions occurs, which boosts the one‐step solvent‐free catalytic hydrogenolysis and isomerization of polyolefins. In addition, the preliminary economic analysis shows that this technology is economical, feasible, and has great potential in accelerating the transition to a circular plastics economy for sustainable development.