Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Dual-Doped Nickel Sulfide for Electro-Upgrading Polyethylene Terephthalate into Valuable Chemicals and Hydrogen Fuel

Researchers developed a catalyst that can convert PET plastic waste into valuable chemicals and clean hydrogen fuel using electricity. By doping nickel sulfide with cobalt and chloride, they achieved high efficiency and selectivity in breaking down a key PET building block. The study demonstrates a promising approach for upcycling plastic waste into useful products rather than sending it to landfills.

2023 Nano-Micro Letters 90 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

Single-Step Electrochemical Upcycling of PET: Waste to Value-Added Chemicals, Oral Presentation

Researchers developed a single-step electrochemical method to upcycle PET plastic waste into value-added chemicals and organic materials, targeting the over 70% of plastic that ends up in landfills or oceans where it breaks down into microplastics.

2024 ECS Meeting Abstracts
Article Tier 2

Trash to treasure: electrocatalytic upcycling of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) microplastic to value-added products by Mn0.1Ni0.9Co2O4-δ RSFs spinel

Researchers developed an electrocatalytic method using Mn0.1Ni0.9Co2O4 spinel catalysts to upcycle PET microplastics into valuable chemicals including formate, terephthalic acid, and potassium sulfate, offering a cost-effective strategy for converting plastic waste into useful products.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 58 citations
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

Electrochemical Degradation of Plastic Waste Coupled with Hydrogen Evolution in Seawater Using Rosette‐Like High‐Entropy Oxides

Scientists developed an electrochemical method using high-entropy oxide nanosheets to break down polyglycolic acid (PGA) plastic waste while simultaneously producing hydrogen fuel from seawater. The process converts plastic-derived glycolic acid into carbonate at high efficiency while requiring significantly less energy than conventional water-splitting approaches. This dual-purpose technology offers a potential pathway for addressing plastic pollution while generating clean energy.

2025 Advanced Science 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Using dual chamber microbial fuel cells for coupled microplastic biodegradation and bioelectricity production: assessing the effect of substrate

Researchers investigated using dual-chamber microbial fuel cells to simultaneously biodegrade PET microplastics and generate bioelectricity. The study found that microbial consortia in the fuel cell setup could break down microplastics while producing usable electrical energy, offering a potentially sustainable approach to microplastic remediation in wastewater treatment.

2026 Microbial Cell Factories
Article Tier 2

Tandem microplastic degradation and hydrogen production by hierarchical carbon nitride-supported single-atom iron catalysts

Researchers developed an iron-based catalyst that can break down polyethylene plastic — including microplastics — into smaller organic molecules while simultaneously producing hydrogen fuel from the leftover products. This two-in-one approach achieved near-complete plastic degradation under neutral water conditions, suggesting a promising path to both cleaning up plastic pollution and generating clean energy.

2024 Nature Communications 88 citations
Article Tier 2

Preparation of heterojunction C3N4/WO3 photocatalyst for degradation of microplastics in water

Researchers synthesized a carbon nitride/tungsten oxide heterojunction photocatalyst that effectively degrades PET microplastics in water while simultaneously generating hydrogen, offering a dual-benefit approach to addressing plastic pollution through photocatalysis.

2023 Chemosphere 52 citations
Article Tier 2

Bimetallic defect-engineered CoMoMOF modulates CdZnS for efficient hydrogen production from water/microplastic waste

Researchers created a novel photocatalyst combining metal-defect-engineered materials to simultaneously generate hydrogen fuel and break down PET plastic waste using light energy. The system produced significantly more hydrogen using PET microplastics as a feedstock compared to water alone, suggesting plastic waste could serve as a raw material for clean energy production. This "waste to fuel" approach could address both the plastic pollution crisis and the energy transition, though it remains at an early laboratory stage.

2025 Green Chemistry 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Strategies for Electrochemical Recycling of Plastic Polyethylene Terephthalate‐Derived Ethylene Glycol Into High‐Value Chemicals

This paper reviews new methods for recycling PET plastic waste, the most common plastic in bottles and packaging, using electricity from renewable sources. By converting PET-derived chemicals into high-value products through electrocatalysis, this approach could help reduce both plastic pollution and microplastic contamination in the environment.

2025 Advanced Energy Materials 20 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

In-situ formation of Ag2O in metal-organic framework for light-driven upcycling of microplastics coupled with hydrogen production

Researchers developed a light-activated catalyst that can break down microplastics while simultaneously producing hydrogen gas as a clean energy byproduct, using a novel metal-organic framework material that converts plastic pollution into useful chemicals — offering a potential two-in-one solution for plastic waste and energy production.

2022 Applied Catalysis B: Environmental 143 citations
Article Tier 2

Upcycling plastic waste into electrode materials for energy storage applications

Researchers reviewed approaches for upcycling plastic waste into electrode materials for energy storage applications, finding that discarded plastics including polyethylene, polypropylene, and PET can be converted through pyrolysis and chemical activation into carbon-based electrodes for supercapacitors and batteries, addressing both plastic pollution and energy storage challenges simultaneously.

2025 Open Collections
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

Two-step conversion of polyethylene into recombinant proteins using a microbial platform

Researchers engineered bacteria to break down polyethylene plastic — one of the most common types of plastic pollution — and convert it into useful proteins, demonstrating a promising biological pathway for upcycling plastic waste into valuable materials.

2023 Microbial Cell Factories 9 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

Plastic-derived substrate-grown carbon nanotubes as freestanding electrode for hydrogen evolution in alkaline media

Plastic waste was converted into carbon nanotubes via pyrolysis and used as a high-performance electrode for hydrogen production, demonstrating a circular economy pathway that transforms plastic pollution into a clean energy material.

2023
Article Tier 2

Electrochemical Degradation of PET Microplastics and Its Mechanism

Researchers investigated whether electrochemical methods could break down PET microplastics in water without additional catalysts. They achieved up to 68% weight loss after just six hours of electrolysis, with temperature being the most important factor for efficiency. The study suggests that electrochemical degradation could be a practical approach for removing PET microplastics from aquatic environments.

2025 Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Solar-driven hydrogen evolution in alkaline seawater over earth-abundant g-C3N4/CuFeO2 heterojunction photocatalyst using microplastic as a feedstock

Researchers developed an earth-abundant photocatalyst that can produce hydrogen fuel by breaking down polyester microplastics using solar energy and seawater. The study demonstrates that this novel material achieved over 60-fold enhanced hydrogen production compared to its individual components, suggesting a promising approach for simultaneously addressing plastic pollution and sustainable energy generation.

2023 Chemical Engineering Journal 39 citations
Article Tier 2

Isolated Ni atoms enable alkali-free photoreforming of waste polylactic acid plastic

Researchers designed a nickel-based catalyst that can break down polylactic acid (PLA) plastic waste using sunlight, converting it into hydrogen fuel and pyruvic acid without needing harsh chemicals. Although PLA is marketed as biodegradable, this solar-powered recycling approach offers a cleaner and more valuable end-of-life option to prevent PLA from degrading into microplastics in the environment.

2025 Nature Communications 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Efficient photodegradation of polystyrene microplastics integrated with hydrogen evolution: Uncovering degradation pathways

Researchers developed an amorphous alloy/photocatalyst composite (FeB/TiO2) that efficiently degrades polystyrene microplastics while simultaneously producing hydrogen fuel, achieving 92.3% particle size reduction and significant H2 production in 12 hours.

2023 iScience 33 citations