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Published on: August 17, 2019
Synergistic Barium-Oxygen Vacancy Catalysis Engineered with MWW Zeolites for Efficient PET Glycolytic
Haocheng Zhang1, Yifan Zhang1, Ling Ding1
1Department of Chemistry, College of Smart Materials and Future Energy, State Key Laboratory of Porous Materials for Separation and Conversion, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials, Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, P. R. China.
Abstract:
The chemical recycling of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) via glycolysis is a promising route to a circular plastics economy, yet its success hinges on the development of efficient and robust heterogeneous catalysts. Herein, we report the rational design of a high-performance catalyst by stabilizing barium oxide (BaO) nanoparticles on an ultrathin, open-structured Cy4-MWW zeolite. This zeolite-directed synthesis yields highly dispersed BaO nanoclusters with rich surface oxygen vacancy (Ov). Comprehensive characterization and density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal a synergistic "Ba-Ov" bifunctional mechanism for PET glycolysis. This spatial cooperation drives efficient transesterification, enabling near-quantitative monomer yields at mild temperature within 1 h. The catalyst demonstrates remarkable versatility by effectively depolymerizing various real-world polyester wastes. This work underscores the power of zeolite-mediated nanostructuring in creating cooperative catalytic interfaces, offering a new design paradigm for advanced catalysts in plastic upcycling.
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