Photocatalytic Upgrading of Plastic Waste into High-Value-Added Chemicals and Fuels: Advances and Perspectives

Waste plastic has imposed significant burdens on ecosystems. Photocatalytic waste plastic into high-value chemicals and fuels has attracted widespread attention due to its mild reaction conditions, high product selectivity, and eco-friendliness, which is a boon to alleviating severe environmental problems and the energy crisis. Nevertheless, there are still several technological obstacles including harsh pretreatment, low photocatalytic efficiency, excessive carbon emissions, and process scale limited to the laboratory, hindering practical applications. In this Perspective, we summarized the recent progress in photocatalytic waste plastics into (1) chemicals and H2 fuel via photoreforming technology, (2) oxide-containing chemicals derived from polystyrene photo-oxidation, as well as (3) syngas or C2 products converted by tandem photocatalytic CO2 reduction. Each panel focuses on the construction of efficient photocatalysts, the in-depth understanding of reaction mechanisms, and the design or optimization of reaction systems. The challenges and future research directions are also discussed in achieving a sustainable photocatalytic plastic upgrading approach. We believe this Perspective will help researchers to understand the development status of the photocatalytic plastic conversion and provide guidance for future exploration of efficient photocatalytic systems.