Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Photocatalytic upcycling of PET into methane, hydrogen and high-value liquid products

Researchers demonstrated that platinum-loaded P25 TiO2 photocatalyst can upcycle PET microplastics into hydrogen (15.35 μmol/h), methane, and high-value liquid products including acetic acid and formic acid, with reaction temperature and co-catalyst composition controlling product selectivity.

2025 Green Chemistry
Article Tier 2

H2 Production from Real Wastes of Polyethylene Terephthalate and Polylactic Acid using CNx/Ni2P Nanocatalyst

Researchers developed a photocatalytic process using a novel nanocatalyst to convert real plastic waste from PET bottles and PLA bioplastics into hydrogen gas. The process achieved maximum hydrogen yields of 124 and 267 micromol per gram for PET and PLA respectively, offering a dual benefit of plastic waste valorization and clean energy production.

2023 International Journal of Clinical Case Reports and Reviews 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Electrocatalytic upcycling of polyethylene terephthalate to commodity chemicals and H2 fuel

Researchers developed an electrocatalytic process that breaks down waste PET plastic (the kind used in water bottles) into valuable chemicals and clean hydrogen fuel using a specially designed nickel-cobalt catalyst. The process achieved high efficiency at industrial-scale current densities, offering a potentially profitable way to recycle plastic waste into useful products.

2021 Nature Communications 678 citations
Article Tier 2

Photoreforming of PET and PLA microplastics for sustainable hydrogen production using TiO2 and g-C3N4 photocatalysts

Researchers used photoreforming—a light-driven process—to break down PET and PLA microplastics while simultaneously generating hydrogen gas, demonstrating a dual-benefit approach that addresses plastic pollution while producing clean energy from waste plastic.

2025 Journal of environmental chemical engineering 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Comprehensive Insights into Photoreforming of Waste Plastics for Hydrogen Production

This review examines photocatalytic "photoreforming" — a solar-powered process that breaks down waste plastics while simultaneously generating hydrogen fuel and useful chemical byproducts. Recent advances in catalyst design, including semiconductor materials and metal-organic frameworks, are analyzed alongside factors like light intensity and pH that affect hydrogen output. This dual-purpose approach could help address both the global plastic waste crisis and the need for clean energy simultaneously.

2025 Preprints.org 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Photoreforming of Nonrecyclable Plastic Waste over a Carbon Nitride/Nickel Phosphide Catalyst

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.

2019 Journal of the American Chemical Society 632 citations
Article Tier 2

Chemoenzymatic Photoreforming: A Sustainable Approach for Solar-fuel Generation from Plastic Feedstocks

Researchers developed a hybrid process combining enzyme pretreatment with solar-driven photoreforming to convert polyester plastic waste into clean hydrogen fuel and valuable chemicals under mild conditions. This approach offers a way to clean up plastic pollution while generating renewable energy simultaneously.

2023 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Fuel cell and electrolyzer using plastic waste directly as fuel

Researchers demonstrated an electrochemical cell that converts solid plastic waste directly into electricity or hydrogen gas without incineration or gasification, using an acidic solution to dissolve polyurethane at 100–200 °C and oxidize it at a porous carbon anode.

2019 Waste Management 33 citations
Article Tier 2

Building a bridge from solid wastes to solar fuels and chemicals via artificial photosynthesis

This review examined photoreforming (PR) as a process that converts solid plastic and other waste materials into hydrogen fuel and value-added chemicals using solar energy, combining waste remediation with clean fuel production. The authors assessed photocatalyst design strategies that enable efficient PR of diverse waste streams including polyethylene and polypropylene.

2022 EcoMat 41 citations
Article Tier 2

Recent advances in catalytic hydrogenolysis of polyester

This review summarises a decade of research into chemically recycling polyester plastic waste (especially PET) by breaking its polymer chains using hydrogen gas — a process called hydrogenolysis — to recover valuable chemical building blocks. Different catalysts allow scientists to target different chemical bonds in PET, yielding products like aromatic hydrocarbons, glycols, or terephthalic acid under varying conditions. Developing efficient chemical recycling pathways is directly relevant to reducing plastic waste and the microplastic pollution that results from improperly disposed plastics.

2025 Chinese Science Bulletin (Chinese Version) 1 citations
Article Tier 2

КАТАЛІТИЧНИЙ ПІРОЛІЗ ВІДХОДІВ ПОЛІЕТИЛЕНУ ВИСОКОЇ ЩІЛЬНОСТІ: ФАЗОВИЙ РОЗПОДІЛ ПРОДУКТІВ І ХІМІЧНИЙ СКЛАД

This Ukrainian study examined catalytic pyrolysis of high-density polyethylene plastic waste using various catalysts, finding that catalyst choice strongly controls the composition and proportion of gas, liquid, and solid products. The research frames plastic pyrolysis as a strategy to prevent plastic waste from fragmenting into environmental microplastics by converting it into useful fuel products instead. Identifying optimal catalyst conditions is a step toward practical industrial-scale plastic-to-fuel conversion.

2026 Herald of Khmelnytskyi National University Technical sciences
Article Tier 2

Hydrothermal liquefaction of plastics: a survey of the effect of reaction conditions on the reaction efficiency

This review summarizes how hydrothermal liquefaction, a process that uses hot pressurized water, can be used to chemically recycle waste plastics. Researchers examined how different reaction conditions affect the efficiency of breaking down plastics into useful products. The study suggests that this technique holds promise as a practical approach to addressing the global plastic waste crisis.

2024 Reaction Chemistry & Engineering 37 citations
Article Tier 2

A Comprehensive Review on the Thermochemical Treatment of Plastic Waste to Produce High Value Products for Different Applications

This review summarizes methods for converting plastic waste into valuable products using high-temperature chemical processes like pyrolysis and plasma technology. These approaches can produce hydrogen fuel, carbon nanotubes, and other useful materials from plastic that would otherwise become pollution. Reducing plastic waste through better recycling technology is important because most microplastic pollution originates from improperly managed plastic products.

2025 Materials Circular Economy 22 citations
Article Tier 2

Hydrogen production from plastic waste: A comprehensive simulation and machine learning study

Researchers used computer simulations and machine learning to optimize hydrogen production from polystyrene and polypropylene plastic waste through gasification. They found that increasing the gasification temperature up to 900 degrees Celsius significantly boosted hydrogen output, while higher pressures reduced production. The study demonstrates that converting plastic waste into hydrogen fuel could be an efficient way to address both energy needs and plastic pollution.

2024 International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 27 citations
Article Tier 2

Catalytic hydrocracking of synthetic polymers into grid-compatible gas streams

Catalytic hydrocracking of common synthetic polymers including polyethylene and polypropylene was shown to produce methane-rich gas streams compatible with natural gas grids, offering a route to convert mixed plastic waste into clean energy.

2021 Cell Reports Physical Science 72 citations
Article Tier 2

From Plastic Waste to Green Hydrogen and Valuable Chemicals Using Sunlight and Water

This review examines how solar-powered photoreforming technology can convert plastic waste into valuable chemicals and green hydrogen using sunlight and water. Researchers found that while the approach shows significant promise as an alternative to landfilling, there is currently no standardized way to compare results across different studies. The study proposes guidelines for more consistent evaluation of photocatalyst performance to help advance this technology toward practical application.

2024 Angewandte Chemie 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Two Stages Thermal and Catalytic Cracking of Polyethylene Terephthalate to Fuel Production

This study examined two-stage thermal and catalytic cracking of PET plastic to produce fuel, finding that combining thermal and catalytic processes improves fuel yield. Converting waste PET into fuel is one approach to managing plastic waste that might otherwise fragment into microplastics in the environment.

2021 International Journal of Design & Nature and Ecodynamics 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Degradation mechanisms of organic compounds in molten hydroxide salts: a radical reaction yielding H2 and graphite

Researchers found that treating plastics like polyethylene in molten hydroxide salts at 400°C proceeds via a radical mechanism rather than oxidation, producing recoverable graphite and hydrogen gas without CO2 emissions, opening a new carbon-free route for plastic recycling.

2023 RSC Advances 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Thermal and catalytic pyrolysis of a real mixture of post-consumer plastic waste: An analysis of the gasoline-range product

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.

2022 Process Safety and Environmental Protection 33 citations
Article Tier 2

Crucial role of pre-treatment in plastic photoreforming for precision upcycling

Researchers reviewed how pre-treating plastic waste before photoreforming — a process that uses sunlight to convert plastic into useful chemicals — dramatically affects what products are made and how efficiently. Understanding how polymer structure and preparation influence the reaction is key to turning plastic waste into valuable resources sustainably.

2025 npj Materials Sustainability 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Mini-review on remediation of plastic pollution through photoreforming: progress, possibilities, and challenges.

This mini-review examines photoreforming — a solar-powered process that converts plastic waste into valuable chemicals and hydrogen fuel — as a promising approach to reducing plastic pollution while generating clean energy. The authors review progress in the technology, assess remaining challenges such as efficiency and scalability, and place it in the context of other plastic waste remediation strategies.

2023 Environmental science and pollution research international
Article Tier 2

Optimisation of Process Parameters to Maximise the Oil Yield from Pyrolysis of Mixed Waste Plastics

Researchers optimized the process parameters for thermal pyrolysis of mixed waste plastics to maximize oil yield from HDPE, polypropylene, and polystyrene. The study used response surface methodology to identify ideal conditions for converting plastic waste into pyrolytic oil, supporting chemical recycling as a strategy to reduce plastic pollution.

2024 Sustainability 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Chemoenzymatic Photoreforming: A Sustainable Approach for Solar Fuel Generation from Plastic Feedstocks

Researchers developed a process combining enzyme treatment with solar-powered chemistry to break down polyester plastics into clean hydrogen fuel and valuable chemicals. The enzymatic step first breaks the plastic into smaller molecules under mild conditions, and then sunlight drives the conversion into useful products. The study demonstrates a sustainable way to upcycle plastic waste, including nanoplastics, using renewable energy rather than harsh industrial processes.

2023 Journal of the American Chemical Society 82 citations
Article Tier 2

Highly Active Biphasic Anatase-Rutile Ni-Pd/TNPs Nanocatalyst for the Reforming and Cracking Reactions of Microplastic Waste Dissolved in Phenol

Researchers developed a biphasic anatase-rutile nickel-palladium nanocatalyst that demonstrated high activity for pyrolysis-catalytic steam reforming of plastic waste dissolved in phenol, producing hydrogen-rich syngas and offering a potential pathway for chemical recycling.

2022 ACS Omega 23 citations