Catalytic deconstruction product tunability using nonthermal plasma pretreatment of polypropylene

Plasma assisted catalysis of post consumer plastics remains an intensive area of research with the potential to provide a method for a closed loop lifecycle for plastics waste. This work focuses on applying a nonthermal plasma (NTP) pretreatment of polypropylene (PP) prior to catalytic deconstruction to modify the product distribution. With the addition of NTP pretreatment, a conversion percentage of up to 94.5%, an increase of 2.9% from catalytic deconstruction without a NTP pretreatment, was observed. Propene was observed as the largest product in all pretreatments tests with the maximum propene yield with no pretreatment. With the addition of different pretreatment conditions, the yield of different major products including propane, butane, methane, and carbon monoxide could be increased with little decrease in conversion. The effects of the plasma pretreatment on the PP were investigated with FTIR and XPS studies. The plasma conditions were investigated with optical absorption spectroscopy and optical emission spectroscopy for ozone and gas temperature measurements, respectively. This research provides a potential method for the tuning of catalytic deconstruction products to better meet market fluctuations in product prices.