Rational Design of Chemical Catalysis for Plastic Recycling

Plastics are indispensable, but their pollution is triggering a global environmental crisis. Although many end-of-life catalytic options have involved converting plastics into valuable products, a deep understanding of the relationship between polymer structure and recycling performance is significant and urgently needed. Here, we start with a primer of polymeric chain structures on chemical recycling and discuss the structure–performance relationship between the polymer, catalyst, and catalytic reaction. Specifically, the development and challenges of the chemical re/upcycling of waste PET and polyolefins are discussed in-depth. In addition, we also present some prospects for innovations in catalyst synthesis…

• NN
  National Natural Science Foundation of China

  Award: 51901147
• CI
  Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology
• HE
  Higher Education Discipline Innovation Project