Rational Design of Chemical Catalysis for Plastic Recycling

TLDR

Plastics are indispensable, yet their pollution is causing a global environmental crisis, and a deep understanding of how polymer structure affects recycling performance is urgently needed. The study introduces a primer on polymeric chain structures for chemical recycling and examines the structure–performance relationship among polymer, catalyst, and reaction. The authors review the development and challenges of chemical re/upcycling of waste PET and polyolefins, and propose prospects for catalyst synthesis and reaction engineering based on the structure–performance relationship. They conclude that intelligent catalysis design is essential to drive chemical recycling of plastics and alleviate waste burdens, and they outline a future perspective on plastic re/upcycling.

Abstract

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 and reaction engineering on the basis of the structure–performance relationship. The discussion ends with a brief perspective on the future of plastic re/upcycling. Overall, intelligent catalysis design is necessary for incentivizing the chemical recycling of plastics and relieving the burden of waste plastics.