A General Electrochemical Strategy for Upcycling Polyester Plastics into Added-value Chemicals by a CuCo2O4 Catalyst

Abstract

The recycling of plastic wastes is one of the urgent issues in the 21st century owing to its detrimental impact on the environment and human health. However, it has great challenges to develop more efficient, low-cost and general methods capable of selectively converting plastic wastes into high-value and separable chemicals with a restricted distribution. Here, we report a general electrocatalytic strategy for the selective upcycling of various polyester plastics into valuable chemicals by a CuCo2O4/Ni foam catalyst under mild conditions. Particularly, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is upcycled into terephthalate and formate with high efficiency and selectivity (  86%) even at a high current density of 100 mA cm-2. The electrocatalytic reaction mechanism was thoroughly elucidated by electrochemical in situ FTIR, NMR and DFT calculations. This work not only develops a superior electrocatalyst for upcycling various polyester plastics, but also provides guidance for the design of new and efficient electrocatalysts.