Converting waste PET plastics into automobile fuels and antifreeze components

• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31078-w
• Publication Date: 2022-06-10T07:02:47Z
• Authors: Zhiwen Gao; Bing Ma; Shuang Chen; Jingqing Tian; Chen Zhao
• Keywords: Antifreeze; Deoxygenation

With the aim to solve serious problem of white plastic pollution, we report herein a low-cost process quantitatively convert polyethylene terephthalate (PET) into p-xylene (PX) and ethylene glycol (EG) over modified Cu/SiO2 catalyst using methanol as both solvent hydrogen donor. Kinetic in-situ Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) studies demonstrate that degradation PET PX involves tandem methanolysis dimethyl (DMT) selective hydro-deoxygenation (HDO) steps with produced H2 from decomposition at 210 °C. The overall high activities are attributed Cu+/Cu0 ratio derived dense granular copper silicate precursor, formed by induction proper NaCl addition during hydrothermal synthesis. This hydrogen-free one-pot approach allows directly produce gasoline fuels antifreeze components waste poly-ester plastic, providing feasible solution in islands.