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A universal photothermal recycling strategy for post-consumer plastics using bio-derived porous carbon
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Scientists have developed a new way to break down plastic waste into reusable building blocks using light-absorbing carbon made from proteins, and it works on almost any type of plastic, including everyday items like water bottles and packaging. This matters because most current plastic recycling methods only work on one type of plastic at a time and often waste energy or create harmful byproducts, so a more universal, efficient approach could help reduce the mountain of plastic waste that eventually breaks down into microplastics polluting our food, water, and bodies.
Chemical recycling of plastics into monomers offers a promising strategy for addressing global plastic pollution. However, most chemical recycling methods are limited to specific polymers. Pyrolysis offers generality for universal polymer recycling; however, overheating leads to energy inefficiencies and degradation products, which limits its practicality. Herein, we report a photothermal depolymerization approach that is general to numerous polymers with high selectivity. Distinct from previous approaches, we identify a porous carbon material derived from proteins as a high-surface-area photothermal agent that does not require direct incorporation into polymer resin. Using low carbon loadings, we successfully depolymerize a wide range of polymers, including polystyrene (PS), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc), poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), trans-polyisoprene, poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC), poly(L-lactide) (PLLA), poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), and bisphenol-A polycarbonate (BPA-PC). Additionally, the porous carbon material is reusable at least five times by sequentially adding polystyrene films to the post-reacted porous carbon materials. Excitingly, this method is broadly applicable to post-consumer plastics without preprocessing and is readily scalable, demonstrating the versatility of this closed-loop chemical recycling approach. Chemical recycling of plastics into monomers can be a promising strategy for plastic pollution, but techniques such as pyrolysis can lead to energy inefficiencies and degradation products. Here the authors report a photothermal depolymerization approach that can be applied to a wide variety polymer with high selectivity.
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