Nearly 100% Valorization in Seconds: Transforming PET‐Metal Oxide Mixtures Into M <sub>1</sub> O <sub>x</sub> Clusters on rGO and Premium Syngas/Aromatics Products

ABSTRACT The efficient recycling of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is often hindered by challenges such as low‐value products, limited processing capacity, prolonged reaction times, and incomplete carbon conversion. Here, we develop a large‐scale, ultrafast Joule‐assisted reformation strategy that achieves nearly 100% valorization of physical mixtures containing 10 g of PET waste and metal oxides within seconds. This process converts more than 30% of the carbon into single‐metal‐atom oxide clusters supported on reduced graphene oxide (M 1 O x /rGO) nanosheets, while transforming the remaining carbon into high‐value syngas and aromatic compounds. When applied to a physical mixture of PET waste and commercial ZnO, the gaseous products consist mainly of syngas (88.91 mmol CO and 41.85 mmol H 2 ), the aromatic fraction contains 22.84 mmol benzene, and the solid product is Zn 1 O 4 /rGO nanosheets. Synchrotron‐radiation X‐ray absorption fine structure and X‐ray emission spectroscopy analyses confirm a four‐coordinate oxygen environment around the Zn center in the as‐synthesized Zn 1 O 4 /rGO nanosheets. The PET reformation pathway was monitored using quasi‐in situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and quasi‐in situ gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations revealed a fragmentation–annulation mechanism. The resulting Zn 1 O 4 /rGO nanosheets exhibit excellent electrocatalytic performance for syngas production via CO 2 reduction at an industrial‐level current density of 400 mA cm −2 . This work establishes a new paradigm for the near‐complete valorization of PET waste into high‐value products.

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Publication Details

Journal
Angewandte Chemie
Published
2026-05-17
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.1688371
Primary Topic
Membrane Separation and Gas Transport
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Nearly 100% Valorization in Seconds: Transforming PET‐Metal Oxide Mixtures Into M 1 O x Clusters on rGO and Premium Syngas/Aromatics Products

Zihan Qin, X M Wang, Ming Zuo, J ZHU et al.
Angewandte Chemie
Membrane Separation and Gas Transport
article

Nearly 100% Valorization in Seconds: Transforming PET‐Metal Oxide Mixtures Into M 1 O x Clusters on rGO and Premium Syngas/Aromatics Products

Zihan Qin, X M Wang, Ming Zuo, J ZHU, Mingyu Wu, Bangwang Li, Kai Zheng, Y L Xie, Y W Sun, W.T. Liu, Siying Liu, Fanfei Sun, Wensheng Yan, Youbin Zheng, Ziyu Wang
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT The efficient recycling of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is often hindered by challenges such as low‐value products, limited processing capacity, prolonged reaction times, and incomplete carbon conversion. Here, we develop a large‐scale, ultrafast Joule‐assisted reformation strategy that achieves nearly 100% valorization of physical mixtures containing 10 g of PET waste and metal oxides within seconds. This process converts more than 30% of the carbon into single‐metal‐atom oxide clusters supported on reduced graphene oxide (M 1 O x /rGO) nanosheets, while transforming the remaining carbon into high‐value syngas and aromatic compounds. When applied to a physical mixture of PET waste and commercial ZnO, the gaseous products consist mainly of syngas (88.91 mmol CO and 41.85 mmol H 2 ), the aromatic fraction contains 22.84 mmol benzene, and the solid product is Zn 1 O 4 /rGO nanosheets. Synchrotron‐radiation X‐ray absorption fine structure and X‐ray emission spectroscopy analyses confirm a four‐coordinate oxygen environment around the Zn center in the as‐synthesized Zn 1 O 4 /rGO nanosheets. The PET reformation pathway was monitored using quasi‐in situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and quasi‐in situ gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations revealed a fragmentation–annulation mechanism. The resulting Zn 1 O 4 /rGO nanosheets exhibit excellent electrocatalytic performance for syngas production via CO 2 reduction at an industrial‐level current density of 400 mA cm −2 . This work establishes a new paradigm for the near‐complete valorization of PET waste into high‐value products.

Angewandte Chemie
University of Science and Technology of China (CN), Hefei National Center for Physical Sciences at Nanoscale (CN), Shanghai Advanced Research Institute (CN), Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics (CN), National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
Openalex Percentile: Top 10%
Membrane Separation and Gas Transport
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