Xiao Zehao, Guo Hongyu, Lv Fan, Lin Zheng, Sun Zongqiang, Sun Chenglong, Tan Yingjun, Huang Qizheng, Luo Mingchuan, Guo Shaojun
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Sci Adv. 2025 May 30;11(22):eadu8381. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adu8381. Epub 2025 May 28.
The escalating plastic crisis can be mitigated by upgrading waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Leveraging the geographical advantages of offshores with established chlor-alkali industries, abundant renewable energy, and extensive seawater, we here present a technically and economically viable strategy of harnessing natural seawater as a medium to transform PET plastics into high-value chemicals. We report a nickel-molybdenum catalyst incorporating frustrated Lewis pairs for the efficient breakage of C─C bond and the oxidation of ethylene glycol, which sustains a current of 6 amperes at 1.74 volts over 350 hours, with a projected revenue of approximately $304 United States dollar (USD) per ton of processed PET plastics. In a customized electrolyzer, we successfully convert 301.0 grams of waste PET into 227.1 grams of p-phthalic acid (95.5% yield), 1486.2 grams of potassium diformate (67.2% yield), and approximately 214.9 liters of green hydrogen. This study paves the way for scalable PET upcycling, contributing to a circular economy and mitigating the plastic pollution crisis.
通过升级废弃聚对苯二甲酸乙二酯（PET），可以缓解不断升级的塑料危机。利用沿海地区氯碱工业的地理优势、丰富的可再生能源和广阔的海水资源，我们在此提出一种技术和经济上可行的策略，即利用天然海水作为介质，将PET塑料转化为高价值化学品。我们报道了一种含有受阻路易斯酸碱对的镍钼催化剂，用于高效断裂碳 - 碳键和氧化乙二醇，该催化剂在1.74伏电压下可维持6安培电流达350小时，预计每吨加工后的PET塑料收入约为304美元。在定制的电解槽中，我们成功地将301.0克废弃PET转化为227.1克对苯二甲酸（产率95.5%）、1486.2克甲酸钾（产率67.2%）和约214.9升绿色氢气。这项研究为PET的可扩展升级回收铺平了道路，有助于实现循环经济并缓解塑料污染危机。
