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Hydrogenation of the benzene rings in PET degraded chemicals over meso-HZSM-5 supported Ru catalyst
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Researchers developed a catalyst using ruthenium on mesoporous zeolite to convert chemicals derived from degraded PET plastic into useful products through hydrogenation. They found the catalyst was highly effective at transforming PET breakdown products into cyclohexane-based compounds with potential industrial value. The work offers a promising approach to chemical recycling of PET waste, which could help reduce both plastic pollution and microplastic generation.
Chemical upcycling of waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) to value-added products can reduce the emission of CO, microplastics and toxic chemicals. In this work, mesoporous H-type Zeolite Socony Mobil-5 (HZSM-5) supported Ru catalyst (Ru/m-HZSM-5) was synthesized and tested in the hydrogenation of PET degraded chemicals (bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate, dimethyl terephthalate, diethyl terephthalate, and terephthalic acid). Characterizations disclosed that Ru/m-HZSM-5 catalyst possesses mesopores (a dominant channel of 5.32 nm), enlarged specific surface area (404 m·g), and Ru NPs dispersed highly (40.6 %) compared to that of Ru/HZSM-5. And also, it was found that Ru/m-HZSM-5 was capable for the hydrogenation of benzene rings in these PET degraded chemicals with large sizes (1.09-1.82 nm). In particular, the conversion of BHET and the selectivity of BHCD over Ru/m-HZSM-5 reached 95.5 % and 95.6 % at 120 °C within 2 h. And Ru/m-HZSM-5 could be recycled at least five times without obvious loss of activity and selectivity.
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