A Highly General Potential‐Gating Strategy for Electrocatalytic Upcycling of Waste Polyester Plastics
Abstract
ABSTRACT Electrocatalytic upcycling of waste polyester plastics driven by renewable electricity offers a sustainable route for resource utilization, yet its practical implementation is hampered by the poor selectivity control stemming from the inherent complex monomer of polyesters. Herein, we propose a potential‐gating principle for the selectivity‐controllable upcycling of α,ω‐diols and hydroxy acids—the most pivotal monomers of polyester—and design a potential‐gated PVP‐Pd‐Ni(OH) 2 ‐CV/NF catalyst. This catalyst enables precise manipulation of product distribution simply by switching the applied potential without the need for catalyst replacement, while demonstrating broad applicability to seven polyesters. Moreover, the composite catalyst exhibits a sevenfold activity enhancement over the Pd/NF benchmark. Mechanistic investigations reveal that the adsorption behavior of hydroxy acid intermediates is the key selectivity‐determining step. Sequential electrolysis of real post‐consumer polyester hydrolysates over four stages for 198 h retains high target product selectivity (84%–98%), thus showcasing a general and sustainable route for plastic waste recycling.
Article Details
Authors (6)
Bo Zhou
Xuejiao Li
Kai Shi
State Key Laboratory of Animal Biodiversity Conservation and Integrated Pest Management, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Peng Rao
State Key Laboratory of Tropic Ocean Engineering Materials and Materials Evaluation Hainan University Haikou China
Lisong Chen
State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Molecular and Process Engineering, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Chemical Processes, ECNU Engineering Center for Sustainable Carbon, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, North Zhongshan Road 3663, Shanghai 200062, P. R. China
Jianlin Shi
State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics