Electrocatalytic upcycling of polyethylene terephthalate to formic acid and hydrogen fuels using CoCuO /MXene catalyst
Résumé
A promising way to address environmental problems caused by plastic waste is through its upcycling into renewable energy and resources. With annual production reaching millions of tons, one of the most widely single-use daily plastics, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), has recently been investigated in terms of chemical recycling to reduce its environmental impact and generate renewable fuels. This study introduces an innovative electrochemical method for the specific conversion of PET hydrolysate into high-value compounds utilizing CoCuOx@MXene/NF catalyst. Our findings revealed that the electrocatalyst was capable of facilitating the conversion of water into hydrogen (H2), while simultaneously oxidizing ethylene glycol (EG), obtained from PET plastic waste hydrolysis, into formate with a high selectivity and lower initial potential compared to water oxidation. Notably, the exceptional performance was attributed to the synergistic interfacial electronic coupling effect between CoCuOx and MXene, which results in a low overpotential (1.24 V@10 mA cm−2) and a high yield of formate product (87.6%). In addition, the electrolyzer could be operated using solar energy panel for upcycling of PET to formic acid and hydrogen fuels by using CoCuOx@MXene catalyst.