Catalysts to Breakdown Microplastics

 


Microplastics measure smaller than 5 millimeters. They are littered around the world, in the food chain and in the water.

Dr. Manish Shetty is working on breaking down plastics before they can get into the environment. A component of this research is to figure out how to make green hydrogen available for waste management systems that use catalysts. Shetty's research uses solvents. In low amounts, the solvents act as hydrogen sources to break down plastics called condensation polymers. These condensation polymers include polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, textiles, packaging and even 3D printing.

Shetty's paper was published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition. It shows that Shetty and his team were able to design catalysts that can harness stored hydrogen after the breakdown of these condensation polymers.The catalyst surfaces use hydrogen leaving organic carriers to transform the PET to p-xylene. This molecule can be used for fuels or chemicals.

Shetty explains, "We have developed a solution for sustainability and waste management of these catalysts. These organic molecules transport this hydrogen from where it's generated to where it's def for waste management, especially in an urban environment where we collect a lot of these wastes."

The scientists used methanol to break down PET into smaller fragments. They also used hydrogen to form p-xylene from PET, a potentially useful chemical or fuel.

Shetty thinks by applying this research we could eliminate our need for fossil fuels. He summarizes, "One of the things that might happen is, as hydrogen becomes more available, especially for green hydrogen, which is through water electrolysis, we need the hydrogen carriers as a transport vector. One such use would be water management and valorization."



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