Polyethylene Hydrogenolysis by Dilute RuPt Alloy to Achieve H-pressure-independent Low Methane Selectivity

Overview

Journal Nat Commun

Specialty Biology

Date 2024 Dec 5

PMID 39632866

Authors

Qikun Hu

Shuairen Qian

Yuqi Wang

Jiayang Zhao

Meng Jiang

Mingze Sun

Helai Huang

Tao Gan

Jun Ma

Jing Zhang

Yi Cheng

Zhiqiang Niu

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Chemical recycling of plastic waste could reduce its environmental impact and create a more sustainable society. Hydrogenolysis is a viable method for polyolefin valorization but typically requires high hydrogen pressures to minimize methane production. Here, we circumvent this stringent requirement using dilute RuPt alloy to suppress the undesired terminal C-C scission under hydrogen-lean conditions. Spectroscopic studies reveal that PE adsorption takes place on both Ru and Pt sites, yet the C-C bond cleavage proceeds faster on Ru site, which helps avoid successive terminal scission of the in situ-generated reactive intermediates due to the lack of a neighboring Ru site. Different from previous research, this method of suppressing methane generation is independent of H pressure, and PE can be converted to fuels and waxes/lubricant base oils with only <3.2% methane even under ambient H pressure. This advantage would allow the integration of distributed, low-pressure hydrogen sources into the upstream of PE hydrogenolysis and provide a feasible solution to decentralized plastic upcycling.

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