We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Papers
61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Upcycling of face masks to application-rich multi- and single-walled carbon nanotubes
ClearCarbon nanotubes production from real-world waste plastics and the pyrolysis behaviour
Researchers produced carbon nanotubes from real-world waste plastics through pyrolysis, characterizing the thermal decomposition behavior of mixed plastic waste and demonstrating a valuable upcycling pathway for plastic pollution.
Repurposing Face Masks after Use: From Wastes to Anode Materials for Na-Ion Batteries
Disposable face masks from the COVID-19 pandemic were repurposed as a carbon source for sodium-ion battery anodes through pyrolysis. Both surgical and FFP2 mask types produced hard carbons with electrochemical properties suitable for energy storage. This approach offers a sustainable path for handling pandemic-generated plastic waste by converting it into functional materials.
Waste Surgical Masks as Precursors of Activated Carbon: A Circular Economy Approach to Mitigate the Impact of Microplastics and Emerging Dye Contaminants
Waste surgical masks were converted into activated carbon materials through pyrolysis, demonstrating a circular approach for handling the surge in disposable mask waste generated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Repurposing mask waste as functional carbon avoids its fragmentation into microplastics in the environment.
Waste-based nanoarchitectonics with face masks as valuable starting material for high-performance supercapacitors
Researchers carbonized and KOH-activated surgical face mask waste to create microporous carbon electrode materials with surface areas of 460-969 square meters per gram for use in supercapacitors. The approach converts a major COVID-19 waste stream that releases microplastic fibers during environmental degradation into a high-value energy storage material.
Upcycling discarded cellulosic surgical masks into catalytically active freestanding materials
Researchers developed a method to upcycle discarded cellulosic surgical masks into catalytically active freestanding materials, repurposing pandemic-generated plastic waste into functional industrial materials. The study demonstrated that the cellulosic fiber structure of surgical masks could be converted into usable catalytic substrates through chemical processing.
Carbon Nanotube prepared by catalytic pyrolysis as the electrode for supercapacitors from polypropylene wasted face masks
Researchers converted discarded polypropylene face masks into carbon nanotubes via catalytic pyrolysis using nickel-iron bimetallic catalysts, producing a bamboo-like nanotube structure with high specific capacitance (56 F/g) and excellent cycling stability that performed well as a supercapacitor electrode material.
Waste Face Surgical Mask Transformation into Crude Oil and Nanostructured Electrocatalysts for Fuel Cells and Electrolyzers
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.
PPE Waste-Derived Carbon Materials for Energy Storage Applications via Carbonization Techniques
This review explores how discarded personal protective equipment such as face masks, generated in enormous quantities since the COVID-19 pandemic, can be converted into useful carbon materials for energy storage through carbonization techniques. Repurposing this PPE waste into battery and supercapacitor components could help address both the plastic pollution problem and the growing demand for energy storage materials.
From waste to energy: luminescent solar concentrators based on carbon dots derived from surgical facemasks
Researchers converted discarded surgical face masks into carbon dots and used them to fabricate luminescent solar concentrators, achieving a solar-to-energy conversion efficiency of 6.1% while diverting pandemic-era plastic waste from landfills.
From Waste to Worth: Upcycling Plastic into High-Value Carbon-Based Nanomaterials
This study reviewed innovative methods for converting plastic waste into high-value carbon-based nanomaterials like graphene and carbon nanotubes. Researchers examined several techniques including pyrolysis, chemical vapor deposition, and flash joule heating, finding that thermal decomposition is currently the most scalable approach for industrial applications. The study suggests that turning plastic waste into advanced materials could help address pollution while also creating economically valuable products.
COVID-19 disposable face masks: a precursor for synthesis of valuable bioproducts
Researchers proposed converting pandemic-era disposable face masks — made from thermoplastic polymers such as polypropylene — into valuable bioproducts through chemical or biological upcycling, framing mask waste management as both an environmental and secondary biosafety challenge requiring urgent circular-economy solutions.
Synthesis of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes from Plastic Waste Using a Stainless-Steel CVD Reactor as Catalyst
Carbon nanotubes were successfully synthesized from polypropylene plastic waste using a simple reactor, turning plastic waste into a high-value nanomaterial. This approach could provide an economically attractive way to deal with plastic waste while creating useful materials.
Upcycling Waste Plastics into Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube Composites via NiCo2O4 Catalytic Pyrolysis
Researchers used catalytic pyrolysis — heating plastic waste with metal catalysts — to convert post-consumer plastics into carbon nanotube composites, a high-value industrial material. Bimetallic nickel-cobalt catalysts produced the best results. This approach could help valorize plastic waste while reducing the volumes that end up in the environment as microplastic pollution.
Nanotechnology-Enhanced Face Masks: Future Scopes and Perspectives
This review assessed nanotechnology-based approaches for creating reusable face masks, motivated by the massive single-use mask waste generated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nano-enhanced masks with antimicrobial and self-cleaning properties were identified as a promising path toward reducing both environmental contamination and pathogen transmission.
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.
Study of Recycling Potential of FFP2 Face Masks and Characterization of the Plastic Mix-Material Obtained. A Way of Reducing Waste in Times of Covid-19
Researchers showed that FFP2 face masks can be mechanically recycled without pre-sorting their composite materials, producing a polymer blend with thermal and mechanical properties comparable to recycled polypropylene — offering a practical route to divert pandemic mask waste from the environment.
Valorization of Face Masks Produced during COVID-19 Pandemic through Hydrothermal Carbonization (HTC): A Preliminary Study
Researchers conducted a preliminary study of hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) at 220 degrees C as a method for valorizing disposable surgical face masks generated during the COVID-19 pandemic, characterizing the resulting hydrochar via TGA, SEM, FTIR, and nitrogen physisorption and finding that masks melted and formed composite carbonaceous materials.
Review of the valorization options for the proper disposal of face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic
Researchers reviewed waste management options for the surge in discarded polypropylene face masks during COVID-19, finding that improper disposal contributes directly to microplastic pollution, and proposing valorization strategies — including energy recovery and material upcycling — tailored to country-level infrastructure and emergency conditions.
Disposal and resource utilization of waste masks: a review
Researchers reviewed current methods for disposing of and repurposing waste face masks — including mechanical recycling, catalytic pyrolysis for hydrogen production, and solvent-based dissolution — identifying solvent-based approaches as especially promising for converting mask polypropylene into multifunctional materials.
Plastic Waste Management towards Energy Recovery during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Example of Protective Face Mask Pyrolysis
Researchers analyzed the elemental composition and pyrolysis behavior of COVID-19 protective face masks, finding that pyrolysis at 400-900 degrees Celsius could effectively recover energy from pandemic-related plastic waste that overwhelmed conventional waste management systems.
Charting a path to catalytic upcycling of plastic micro/nano fiber pollution from textiles to produce carbon nanomaterials and turquoise hydrogen
Researchers demonstrated proof-of-concept for catalytic upcycling of polyester and cotton textile-derived microfibers into structured solid carbon products, using a defined fiber feedstock to establish a pathway for converting fiber pollution into value-added carbon materials.
Mechanical Recycling of Disposable Protective Masks
Disposable face masks — a major source of pandemic-era plastic waste — were mechanically recycled through extrusion to assess whether their polypropylene layers retain useful material properties. The study found that mechanical recycling had only minor effects on thermal properties, suggesting masks could be diverted from landfill and reprocessed into raw material, reducing the chance that mask fibers fragment into environmental microplastics.
Preparation of high quality carbon nanotubes by catalytic pyrolysis of waste plastics using FeNi-based catalyst
Researchers developed a method to produce high-quality carbon nanotubes from waste polyethylene plastics using iron-nickel catalysts. The study found that varying the catalyst composition affected nanotube quality and yield, demonstrating a promising approach for converting plastic waste into valuable nanomaterials rather than allowing it to persist as pollution.
Plastic Waste-Derived Carbon Dots: Insights of Recycling Valuable Materials Towards Environmental Sustainability
Researchers review how waste plastics, including single-use items that surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, can be converted into carbon dots — tiny light-emitting nanoparticles under 10 nanometers — with useful applications in sensing, imaging, and catalysis. This recycling approach offers an environmentally sustainable way to transform a persistent pollution problem into valuable high-tech materials.