Solar‐Driven CO <sub>2</sub> ‐Mediated Upcycling of Waste Plastics Into Value‐Added Syngas and Carbon Nanotubes
ABSTRACT Plastics and CO 2 are two major waste carbon resources, and their management and recycling are attracting increasing attention. CO 2 ‐mediated plastic upcycling represents a promising strategy for the simultaneous transformation of both wastes, yet it still suffers from high energy demand, low efficiency, and limited applicability to diverse plastics. Here, we report a solar‐driven photothermal strategy that enables the efficient and energy‐saving CO 2 ‐mediated reforming of various plastics, including polyolefins, polyesters, copolymers, and their mixtures, into high‐value syngas and carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The process achieves a syngas yield of 165.6 mmol g cat −1 h −1 , an order of magnitude higher than that of conventional thermocatalysis. Within this system, CO 2 acts not only as an oxidant that consumes the hydrogen species released during plastic dehydrogenation, thereby enhancing efficiency and suppressing methanation but also as a carbon feedstock that directly contributes to both gaseous and solid products. This study provides a powerful solution for the valorization of complex plastic wastes and greenhouse gases and offers new insights into solar‐driven chemical transformations toward a circular carbon economy, while further optimization of the H 2 /CO ratio may expand its compatibility with specific downstream applications.
Authors
- Jinxing Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9254-7430)
- Muhan Cao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7988-7219)
- Haoyue Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8867-6504)
- Yi Luo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0007-0394)
- Panpan Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7277-9920)
- Binglei Jiao
- Qiao Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9682-3295)
- Xiangjun Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5177-4995)
- Yu Ji (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7394-8888)
- Nan Zhao
- Qi Lu
- Mingyu Chu
Institutions
- Soochow University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Angewandte Chemie International Edition
- Published
- 2026-07-17
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.2880918
- Primary Topic
- Carbon dioxide utilization in catalysis
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China