G. Liu
Virginia Tech,
United States
Keywords: polystyrene, polyethylene, polypropylene, surfactant
Summary:
I will present the upcycling of plastic waste into high-value chemicals. We will discuss a tandem degradation-upcycling strategy to exploit high-value chemicals from PS, PE, and PP with high selectivity. We first degrade plastics to intermediates and then valorize them to high-value chemicals. The low-value-input and high-value-output approach is more sustainable and economically viable than conventional processes. The cascade strategy is resilient to impurities from plastic wastes and is generalizable to other high-value chemicals. The upcycling is tested at 1-kg laboratory scale and attested by industrial-scale techno-economic analysis, demonstrating sustainability and economic viability without government subsidies or tax credits.