Upcycling of polyethylene to gasoline through a self-supplied hydrogen strategy in a layered self-pillared zeolite

Conversion of plastic wastes to valuable carbon resources without using noble metal catalysts or external hydrogen remains a challenging task. Here we report a layered self-pillared zeolite that enables the conversion of polyethylene to gasoline with a remarkable selectivity of 99% and yields of >80% in 4 h at 240 °C. The liquid product is primarily composed of branched alkanes (selectivity of 72%), affording a high research octane number of 88.0 that is comparable to commercial gasoline (86.6). In situ inelastic neutron scattering, small-angle neutron scattering, solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance, X-ray absorption spectroscopy and isotope-labelling experiments reveal that the activation of polyethylene…

• UD
  U.S. Department of Energy
• DL
  Diamond Light Source
• NN
  National Natural Science Foundation of China

  Awards: 22121002, 22293015, 22293012. 22293015, 21890761, 22121002, 22293012
• PU
  Peking University
• OO
  Office of Science
• EA
  Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

  Awards: EP/V056409, EP/V056409/1, EP/V056409/1
• NN
  National Natural Science Foundation of China-Yunnan Joint Fund

  Awards: 22121002, 22293015
• BS
  Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility
• BN
  Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences
• OR
  Oak Ridge National Laboratory