Upcycling polyolefins to methane-free liquid fuel by a Ru<sub>1</sub>-ZrO<sub>2</sub> catalyst.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 40118830.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-025-57998-x and PMC identifier 11928669.
- 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
Upcycling waste plastics into liquid fuels presents significant potential for advancing the circular economy but is hindered by poor selectivity and low-value methane byproduct formation. In this work, we report that atomic Ru-doped ZrO<sub>2</sub> can selectively convert 100 grams of post-consumer polyethylene and polypropylene, yielding 85 mL of liquid in a solvent-free hydrocracking. The liquid (C<sub>5</sub>-C<sub>20</sub>) comprises ~70% jet-fuel-ranged branched hydrocarbons (C<sub>8</sub>-C<sub>16</sub>), while the gas product is liquefied-petroleum-gas (C<sub>3</sub>-C<sub>6</sub>) without methane and ethane. We found that the atomic Ru dopant in the Ru-O-Zr moiety functionalizes its neighboring O atom, originally inert, to create a Brønsted acid site. This Brønsted acid site, rather than the atomic Ru dopant itself, selectively governs the internal C-C bond cleavage in polyolefins through a carbonium ion mechanism, thereby enhancing the yield of jet-fuel-ranged hydrocarbons and suppressing methane formation. This oxide modulation strategy provides a paradigm shift in catalyst design for hydrocracking waste plastics and holds potential for a broad spectrum of applications.