Tandem microplastic degradation and hydrogen production by hierarchical carbon nitride-supported single-atom iron catalysts.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 39384850.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-024-53055-1 and PMC identifier 11464750.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Microplastic pollution, an emerging environmental issue, poses significant threats to aquatic ecosystems and human health. In tackling microplastic pollution and advancing green hydrogen production, this study reveals a tandem catalytic microplastic degradation-hydrogen evolution reaction (MPD-HER) process using hierarchical porous carbon nitride-supported single-atom iron catalysts (FeSA-hCN). Through hydrothermal-assisted Fenton-like reactions, we accomplish near-total ultrahigh-molecular-weight-polyethylene degradation into C<sub>3</sub>-C<sub>20</sub> organics with 64% selectivity of carboxylic acid under neutral pH, a leap beyond current capabilities in efficiency, selectivity, eco-friendliness, and stability over six cycles. The system demonstrates versatility by degrading various daily-use plastics across different aquatic settings. The mixture of FeSA-hCN and plastic degradation products further achieves a hydrogen evolution of 42 μmol h<sup>‒1</sup> under illumination, outperforming most existing plastic photoreforming methods. This tandem MPD-HER process not only provides a scalable and economically feasible strategy to combat plastic pollution but also contributes to the hydrogen economy, with far-reaching implications for global sustainability initiatives.