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Photoreforming of Nonrecyclable Plastic Waste over a Carbon Nitride/Nickel Phosphide Catalyst
Summary
A carbon nitride/nickel phosphide photocatalyst was used to photoreform non-recyclable PET and PLA plastic waste at ambient temperature, producing clean hydrogen fuel and organic chemicals without precious metals or toxic components. The study demonstrates a low-energy, scalable approach to converting plastic waste into valuable chemical feedstocks using sunlight.
With over 8 billion tons of plastic produced since 1950, polymers represent one of the most widely used-and most widely discarded-materials. Ambient-temperature photoreforming offers a simple and low-energy means for transforming plastic waste into fuel and bulk chemicals but has previously only been reported using precious-metal- or Cd-based photocatalysts. Here, an inexpensive and nontoxic carbon nitride/nickel phosphide (CNx|Ni2P) photocatalyst is utilized to successfully reform poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and poly(lactic acid) (PLA) to clean H2 fuel and a variety of organic chemicals under alkaline aqueous conditions. Ni2P synthesized on cyanamide-functionalized carbon nitride is shown to promote efficient charge separation and catalysis, with a photostability of at least 5 days. The real-world applicability of photoreforming is further verified by generating H2 and organics from a selection of nonrecyclable waste-including microplastics (polyester microfibers) and food-contaminated plastic-and upscaling the system from 2 to 120 mL while maintaining its efficiency for plastic conversion.