TiO 2 nanoparticle supported Ru catalyst for chemical upcycling of polyethylene terephthalate to alkanes

Production of fuel and chemicals from plastic waste is one of the effective ways to upcycle spent plastics, which is an interesting topic and of significance for green and sustainable development. Herein, we demonstrate a highly efficient catalyst, TiO 2 nanoparticle supported Ru nanocatalyst (Ru/TiO 2 ), for upcycling polyethylene terephthalate (PET) to alkanes in the presence of H 2 and water. Under the optimal conditions (200 °C, 60 bar H 2 , and small amount of H 2 O), PET could completely convert into alkanes, dominated with cyclohexane and methane. It was indicated that the strong interaction between the TiO 2 support and Ru nanoparticles made electrons flow from the TiO 2 support to the Ru nanoparticles, which thus rendered Ru/TiO 2 to have ability to simultaneously catalyze PET hydrolysis and intermediate hydrogenation. This work realizes the transformation of PET to alkanes, which provides a promising way to chemically upcycle PET.