Converting Plastic Wastes to Naphtha for Closing the Plastic Loop

Lin Li; Hu Luo; Zilong Shao; Haozhi Zhou; Junwen Lu; Junjun Chen; Chaojie Huang; Shunan Zhang; Xiaofang Liu; Lin Xia; Jiong Li; Hui Wang; Yuhan Sun

doi:10.1021/jacs.2c11407

Converting Plastic Wastes to Naphtha for Closing the Plastic Loop

J Am Chem Soc. 2023 Jan 25;145(3):1847-1854. doi: 10.1021/jacs.2c11407. Epub 2023 Jan 12.

Authors

Lin Li^{1

2}, Hu Luo¹, Zilong Shao^{1

2}, Haozhi Zhou³, Junwen Lu^{1

2}, Junjun Chen^{1

2}, Chaojie Huang^{1

2}, Shunan Zhang³, Xiaofang Liu¹, Lin Xia¹, Jiong Li⁴, Hui Wang^{1

3}, Yuhan Sun^{1

3

5}

Affiliations

¹ CAS Key Laboratory of Low-Carbon Conversion Science and Engineering, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201210, People's Republic of China.
² University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, People's Republic of China.
³ Institute of Carbon Neutrality, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201203, People's Republic of China.
⁴ Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Zhangjiang National Lab, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201204, People's Republic of China.
⁵ Shanghai Institute of Cleantech Innovation, Shanghai 201616, People's Republic of China.

PMID: 36635072
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.2c11407

Abstract

To solve the serious environmental problem and huge resource waste of plastic pollution, we report a tandem catalytic conversion of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) into naphtha, the key feedstock for renewable plastic production. Using β zeolite and silicalite-1-encapsulated Pt nanoparticles (Pt@S-1), a naphtha yield of 89.5% is obtained with 96.8% selectivity of C₅-C₉ hydrocarbons at 250 °C. The acid sites crack long-chain LDPE into olefin intermediates, which diffuse within the channels of Pt@S-1 to encounter Pt nanoparticles. The hydrogenation over confined metal matches cracking steps by selectively shipping the olefins with right size, and the rapid diffusion boosts the formation of narrow-distributed alkanes. A conceptual upgrading indicates it is suitable for closing the plastic loop, with a significant energy saving of 15% and 30% reduced greenhouse gas emissions.