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Waste Face Surgical Mask Transformation into Crude Oil and Nanostructured Electrocatalysts for Fuel Cells and Electrolyzers

ChemSusChem 2021 45 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 40 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.

Mohsin Muhyuddin, Mohsin Muhyuddin, Jonathan Filippi, Luca Zoia, Simone Bonizzoni, Roberto Lorenzi, Enrico Berretti, Laura Capozzoli, Marco Bellini, Luca Zoia, Chiara Ferrara, Chiara Ferrara, Alessandro Lavacchi, Enrico Berretti, Carlo Santoro Alessandro Lavacchi, Carlo Santoro

Summary

Researchers developed a novel valorization process to convert waste surgical face masks into crude oil via pyrolysis and nanostructured carbon electrocatalysts for use in fuel cells and electrolyzers, demonstrating a dual-value approach to managing the large volumes of pandemic-generated plastic medical waste.

A novel route for the valorization of waste into valuable products was developed. Surgical masks commonly used for COVID 19 protection by stopping aerosol and droplets have been widely used, and their disposal is critical and often not properly pursued. This work intended to transform surgical masks into platinum group metal-free electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) as well as into crude oil. Surgical masks were subjected to controlled-temperature and -atmosphere pyrolysis, and the produced char was then converted into electrocatalysts by functionalizing it with metal phthalocyanine of interest. The electrocatalytic performance characterization towards ORR and HER was carried out highlighting promising activity. At different temperatures, condensable oil fractions were acquired and thoroughly analyzed. Transformation of waste surgical masks into electrocatalysts and crude oil can open new routes for the conversion of waste into valuable products within the core of the circular economy.

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