Facile H2PdCl4-induced photoreforming of insoluble PET waste for C1-C3 compound production

Dani Tong Li; He Yu; Ying Huang

doi:10.3389/fchem.2023.1265556

Facile H₂PdCl₄-induced photoreforming of insoluble PET waste for C1-C3 compound production

Front Chem. 2023 Sep 19:11:1265556. doi: 10.3389/fchem.2023.1265556. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Dani Tong Li^#¹, He Yu^#², Ying Huang³

Affiliations

¹ Stephen Perse Foundation, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
² Laboratoire de Physique et d'Étude des Matériaux, ESPCI Paris, PSL Research University, Sorbonne Université, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Paris, France.
³ Key Laboratory of Industrial Equipment Quality Big Data, No.5 Electronics Research Institute of Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), Guangzhou, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Plastic pollution has emerged as a pressing global concern, driven by the extensive production and consumption of plastic, resulting in over 8 billion tons of plastic waste generated to date. Conventional disposal methods have proven inadequate in effectively managing polymer waste, necessitating the exploration of novel techniques. Previous research has demonstrated the successful application of photoreforming (PR) in converting water-soluble oligomer fragments of plastics into valuable chemicals. However, an unresolved challenge remains in dealing with the insoluble oligomer fragments characterized by complex chemical structures and larger molecular sizes. In this study, we propose a facile approach that involves H₂PdCl₄-induced activation on PET substrate for PR of PET bottles. Remarkably, this method enables the production of C1-C3 compounds without the reliance on sacrificial reagents or photocatalysts. The significant findings of this study offer a practical solution to address the most formidable aspect of plastic PR, specifically targeting the insoluble oligomer fragments. Moreover, this research contributes to the advancement of effective strategies for the sustainable management of plastic waste.

Keywords: PET; energy regeneration; palladium; photoreforming; plastic recycle.

Grants and funding

The authors declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work is supported by the Key-Area Research and Development Program of Guangdong Province (Grant No. 2021B0101310003), Guangzhou Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (Grant Nos. 202201010440 and 2023A03J0024), Guangdong Junior Innovative Talents Project for Ordinary Universities (Grant No. 2021KQNCX018), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 62074060), Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (Grant No. 2020B1515020032), Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (Grant No. 2022A1515140064).