Unlocking High‐Concentration PET Upcycling via Site‐Decoupled Copper Catalysis
Abstract
Abstract Upcycling polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic waste on islands into valuable fuels represents a promising strategy for carbon resource utilization and circular economy development; however, this approach faces critical challenges, including low processing concentrations (currently C PET < 1.5 wt%) and fast catalyst deactivation under high‐temperature redox conditions. Herein, we report a site‐decoupled copper catalyst (Cu/MgAlGaZnO x ) that unlocks quantitative conversion of PET to p ‐xylene (PX) at unprecedented concentrations (15.1 wt%), achieving a record PX formation rate of 10.1 −7.8‐fold higher than prior CuNa/SiO 2 systems. In situ spectroscopy reveals that ethylene glycol (EG) fragment oxidation during depolymerization reduces Cu + species in conventional catalysts, triggering rapid deactivation. By contrast, oxygen vacancies (O v ) in the GaZnO x support adsorb methanolysis intermediates, spatially segregating depolymerization (GaZnO x ) from hydrodeoxygenation (Cu/MgAlO x ). This decoupling stabilizes active Cu⁺/Cu 0 ─O v sites, enabling sustained operation at high PET concentrations. Our work establishes site decoupling as a general strategy for stabilizing redox catalysts in polymer upcycling under demanding environments.
Article Details
Authors (4)
Chuan Gang
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Chemical Processes, State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Molecular & Process Engineering, ECNU Engineering Center for Sustainable Carbon, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering East China Normal University Shanghai 200062 China
Jingqing Tian
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Chemical Processes, State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Molecular and Process Engineering, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering
Bing Ma
Chen Zhao