Plastic waste as a feedstock for solar-driven H<inf>2</inf> generation
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Publication Date
2018-10-01Journal Title
Energy and Environmental Science
ISSN
1754-5692
Publisher
Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
Volume
11
Issue
10
Pages
2853-2857
Type
Article
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Uekert, T., Kuehnel, M., Wakerley, D., & Reisner, E. (2018). Plastic waste as a feedstock for solar-driven H<inf>2</inf> generation. Energy and Environmental Science, 11 (10), 2853-2857. https://doi.org/10.1039/c8ee01408f
Abstract
Solar-driven photoreforming of plastics offers a simple and lowenergy
means to turn waste into H2. Here, we report the efficient
photoreforming of three commonly produced polymers –
polylactic acid, polyethylene terphthalatate (PET) and
polyurethane – using inexpensive CdS/CdOx quantum dots in
alkaline aqueous solution. This process operates under ambient
temperature and pressure, generates pure H2 and converts the
waste polymer into high-value organic products such as formate,
acetate and pyruvate. We further validate the real-world
applicability of the system by successfully converting a PET water
bottle to H2. This is the first demonstration of visible light-driven,
noble metal-free photoreforming of plastic.
Sponsorship
Christian Doppler Research Association (Austrian Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy and the National Foundation for Research, Technology and Development), OMV group, EPSRC (NanoDTC studentship, STA studentship, IAA Follow-on fund).
Funder references
Christian Doppler Forschungsgesellschaft (unknown)
EPSRC (EP/L015978/1)
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/c8ee01408f
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/286189
Rights
Licence:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/