Catalytic oxidative cracking of plastics provides an important direction for solving the challenges of plastic pollution and mitigating the wastage of carbon resources. This paper reviews recent progresses on catalytic oxidation upcycling of plastics and also describes the current challenges.

Abstract

Chemical upcycling of plastics provides an important direction for solving the challenging issues of plastic pollution and mitigating the wastage of carbon resources. Among them, catalytic oxidative cracking of plastics to produce high–value chemicals, such as catalytic oxidation of polyethylene (PE) to produce fatty dicarboxylic acids, catalytic oxidation of polystyrene (PS) to produce benzoic acid, and catalytic oxidation of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) to produce terephthalic acid under mild conditions has attracted increasing attention, and some exciting progress has been made recently. In this article, we will review recent progresses on the catalytic oxidation upcycling of plastics and provide our understanding on the current challenges in catalytic oxidation upcycling of plastics.