An electricity-powered future for mixed plastic waste chemical recycling.

In contemporary times, global plastic waste production has doubled in comparison to two decades ago, with only 9% effectively recycled. The polymer industry is undergoing a transition to address the disparity between plastic production and end-of-life waste management. Chemical recycling offers a solution by converting plastic waste into its constituent building blocks, or monomers, which can be utilized in the production of new, high-quality plastics.

Integrated CO Capture and Utilization by Combining Calcium Looping with CH Reforming Processes: A Thermodynamic and Exergetic Approach.

This study investigates a novel concept to coproduce high-purity H and syngas, which couples steam methane reforming with CaO carbonation to capture the generated CO and dry reforming of methane with CaCO calcination to directly utilize the captured CO. The thermodynamic equilibrium of the reactive calcination stage was evaluated using Aspen Plus via a parametric analysis of various operating conditions, including the temperature, pressure, and CH/CaCO molar ratio. Introducing a CH feed in the calcination stage promoted the driving force and completion of CaCO decomposition at lower temperatures (∼700 °C) compared to applying an inert flow, as a result of CO conversion.

Exploring the Reaction Pathways of Bioglycerol Hydrodeoxygenation to Propene over Molybdena-Based Catalysts.

The one-step reaction of glycerol with hydrogen to form propene selectively is a particularly challenging catalytic pathway that has not yet been explored thoroughly. Molybdena-based catalysts are active and selective to C-O bond scission; propene is the only product in the gas phase under the standard reaction conditions, and further hydrogenation to propane is impeded. Within this context, this work focuses on the exploration of the reaction pathways and the investigation of various parameters that affect the catalytic performance, such as the role of hydrogen on the product distribution and the effect of the catalyst pretreatment step.

Hydrodeoxygenation of bio-derived phenols to hydrocarbons using RANEY Ni and Nafion/SiO2 catalysts.

A simple, green, cost- and energy-efficient route for converting phenolic components in bio-oil to hydrocarbons and methanol has been developed, with nearly 100% yields. In the heterogeneous catalysts, RANEY Ni acts as the hydrogenation catalyst and Nafion/SiO(2) acts as the Brønsted solid acid for hydrolysis and dehydration.

Highly selective catalytic conversion of phenolic bio-oil to alkanes.

Oil and water: A new energy-efficient and atom-economical catalytic route for the production of alkanes and methanol by upgrading the phenolic fraction of bio-oil has been developed. The one-pot aqueous-phase hydrodeoxygenation process is based on two catalysts facilitating consecutive hydrogenation, hydrolysis, and dehydration reactions.