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Updated: Jun 12, 2025

A Facile and Eco-friendly Route to Fabricate PolyLactic Acid Scaffolds with Graded Pore Size
Published on: October 17, 2016
Alanine Production by Chemical Upcycling of Polylactic Acid Waste Over Fe-Doped Ru/CeO2
Qiang Zhao1, Jiaxue Hu1, Zhenzheng Gui1
1State Key Laboratory of Materials-oriented Chemical Engineering, School of Energy Science and Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 211816, China.
Abstract:
Biodegradable polyesters, such as polylactic acid (PLA), is one of the most promising plastics with great potential to contribute to enabling a sustainable global circular economy. However, the efficient chemical upcycling of PLA plastic waste into high-value chemicals remains a grand challenge. Herein, a series of Ru/CeFeOx catalysts with varying Ru loadings were developed for the catalytic amination of PLA plastic waste to alanine in the presence of ammonia. The as-prepared catalysts exhibited exceptional catalytic activity, high selectivity, and excellent recyclability, achieving an alanine yield of 70.5 % at 180 °C for 18 h, significantly surpassing previous reports. The outstanding catalytic performance can be primarily attributed to the presence of Fe species in Ru/CeFeOx, which generated more oxygen vacancies, provided abundant base sites, and enhanced reducibility, therefore accelerating the reaction rate and enhancing catalytic efficiency. This study presents an alternative strategy for the sustainable chemical upcycling of PLA plastic waste into alanine and the realization of a circular economy.
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