Ultrafast and highly‐selective upcycling of plastic polylactic acid waste driven by <scp>ZnInFe</scp>‐mixed metal oxide
Jianchi Zhou, Jibo Qin, Biao Li, Congjia Luo, Jingbin Han, Yanqing Hu, Wenjing Zhang, Yibo Dou
Abstract
Abstract Chemical upcycling of waste plastics represents an appealing way to achieve a circular economy and mitigate environmental problems but remains a huge challenge. Herein, we report a heterojunction photocatalyst (ZnInFe‐mixed metal oxide, denoted as ZnInFe‐MMO) for the rapid valorization of polylactic acid (PLA) via a developed alkali‐assisted photocatalysis system. The ZnInFe‐MMO featured with a double Z‐Scheme structure is favorable for light harvesting and electron‐hole separation. Moreover, the operando characterizations and theoretical simulations confirm that the ZnInFe‐MMO affords a remarkably decreased barrier for the rate‐determining step (formation of *LA intermediate) while inhibiting the CC breakage in the side reaction. As a result, the ZnInFe‐MMO attains a ~100% conversion and ~99% selectivity toward sodium lactate (NaLA), which is preponderant to the state‐of‐the‐art photocatalysts. In addition, such an effective route is also demonstrated in various real‐world PLA waste.