Researchers have developed a system that can transform plastic waste and greenhouse gases into sustainable fuels and other valuable products – using just the energy from the Sun.
The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, developed the system, which can convert two waste streams into two chemical products at the same time – the first time this has been achieved in a solar-powered reactor.
The reactor converts carbon dioxide (CO2) and plastics into different products that are useful in a range of industries. In tests, CO2 was converted into syngas, a key building block for sustainable liquid fuels, and plastic bottles were converted into glycolic acid, which is widely used in the cosmetics industry. The system can easily be tuned to produce different products by changing the type of catalyst used in the reactor.
A solar-driven technology that could help to address plastic pollution and greenhouse gases at the same time could be a game-changer in the development of a circular economy. A solar-driven technology that could help to address plastic pollution and greenhouse gases at the same time could be a game-changer in the development of a circular economy- Subhajit Bhattacharjee, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge
Converting plastics and greenhouse gases – two of the biggest threats facing the natural world – into useful and valuable products using solar energy is an important step in the transition to a more sustainable, circular economy. The results are reported in the journal Nature Synthesis.
Converting waste into something useful using solar energy is a major goal of our research. Plastic pollution is a huge problem worldwide, and often, many of the plastics we throw into recycling bins are incinerated or end up in landfill.- Professor Erwin Reisner, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge
Reisner also leads the Cambridge Circular Plastics Centre (CirPlas), which aims to eliminate plastic waste by combining blue-sky thinking with practical measures.
Other solar-powered ‘recycling’ technologies hold promise for addressing plastic pollution and for reducing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, but to date, they have not been combined in a single process.
We also need something that’s tuneable, so that you can easily make changes depending on the final product you want,- Dr Motiar Rahaman, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge
Reisner recently received new funding from the European Research Council to help the development of their solar-powered reactor. Over the next five years, they hope to further develop the reactor to produce more complex molecules. The researchers say that similar techniques could someday be used to develop an entirely solar-powered recycling plant.
Full University of Cambridge article.
Refence: Subhajit Bhattacharjee, Motiar Rahaman et al. ‘Photoelectrochemical CO2-to-fuel conversion with simultaneous plastic reforming.’ Nature Synthesis (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s44160-022-00196-0
Image credit: Reisner Lab - Solar-powered reactor for converting plastic and greenhouse gases into sustainable fuels