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Upcycling of polyethylene to gasoline through a self-supplied hydrogen strategy in a layered self-pillared zeolite
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Researchers developed a special zeolite material (a porous mineral catalyst) that converts polyethylene plastic waste into high-quality gasoline with over 80% yield, without needing expensive metals or added hydrogen. This breakthrough offers a practical pathway for recycling one of the most common plastics into usable fuel, potentially reducing plastic waste and reliance on fossil fuel extraction.
Conversion of plastic wastes to valuable carbon resources without using noble metal catalysts or external hydrogen remains a challenging task. Here we report a layered self-pillared zeolite that enables the conversion of polyethylene to gasoline with a remarkable selectivity of 99% and yields of >80% in 4 h at 240 °C. The liquid product is primarily composed of branched alkanes (selectivity of 72%), affording a high research octane number of 88.0 that is comparable to commercial gasoline (86.6). In situ inelastic neutron scattering, small-angle neutron scattering, solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance, X-ray absorption spectroscopy and isotope-labelling experiments reveal that the activation of polyethylene is promoted by the open framework tri-coordinated Al sites of the zeolite, followed by β-scission and isomerization on Brönsted acids sites, accompanied by hydride transfer over open framework tri-coordinated Al sites through a self-supplied hydrogen pathway to yield selectivity to branched alkanes. This study shows the potential of layered zeolite materials in enabling the upcycling of plastic wastes.
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Researchers modified microporous HY zeolite via acid leaching to tune pore structure and acidity for platinum-catalyzed hydrocracking of low-density polyethylene, achieving 97.5% conversion and 79.6% yield of liquid C-C fuel products — far exceeding unmodified Pt-HY catalyst performance and demonstrating a practical pathway for converting plastic waste into transportation fuels.
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Scientists found a way to turn plastic waste into high-quality lubricant oil by heating it up and treating it with special metal catalysts. This process converted over 88% of the waste plastic into useful oil that could replace petroleum-based lubricants. This breakthrough could help reduce plastic pollution while creating valuable products, though more research is needed before it becomes widely available.
Thermal and catalytic pyrolysis of a real mixture of post-consumer plastic waste: An analysis of the gasoline-range product
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Researchers performed thermal and catalytic pyrolysis on real post-consumer plastic waste mixtures using various catalysts, finding that polymer type strongly influenced gas, liquid, and char yields, and that zeolite catalysts produced gasoline-range hydrocarbon liquids with commercially viable compositions from mixed plastic feedstocks.
Porous carbons from PET waste: structure–property relationships and catalytic performance in esterification reactions
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Scientists turned old plastic water bottles (PET plastic) into a specialized material that can help produce biodiesel, achieving an 88% success rate in converting fatty acids into usable fuel. This matters because it offers a clever way to recycle plastic waste that would otherwise pile up in landfills or break down into microplastics polluting our soil, water, and air—turning an environmental problem into something useful instead.
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Researchers developed a catalytic upcycling process using zinc-nickel nanoparticles embedded in porous carbon derived from pine sawdust to convert waste agricultural plastic mulch film into high-purity liquid hydrocarbons suitable for gasoline and jet fuel, offering a pathway to reduce microplastic accumulation from agricultural lands while recovering energy value.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.