A Versatile Sulfur‐Assisted Pyrolysis Strategy for High‐Atom‐Economy Upcycling of Waste Plastics into High‐Value Carbon Materials

Abstract With the overconsumption of disposable plastics, there is a considerable emphasis on the recycling of waste plastics to relieve the environmental, economic, and health‐related consequences. Here, a sulfur‐assisted pyrolysis strategy is demonstrated for versatile upcycling of plastics into h...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Youchen Tang, Zongheng Cen, Qian Ma, Bingna Zheng, Zhaopeng Cai, Shaohong Liu, Dingcai Wu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2023-05-01
Series:Advanced Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202206924
Description
Summary:Abstract With the overconsumption of disposable plastics, there is a considerable emphasis on the recycling of waste plastics to relieve the environmental, economic, and health‐related consequences. Here, a sulfur‐assisted pyrolysis strategy is demonstrated for versatile upcycling of plastics into high‐value carbons with an ultrahigh carbon‐atom recovery (up to 85%). During the pyrolysis process, the inexpensive elemental sulfur molecules are covalently bonded with polymer chains, and then thermally stable intermediates are produced via dehydrogenation and crosslinking, thereby inhibiting the decomposition of plastics into volatile small hydrocarbons. In this manner, the carbon products obtained from real‐world waste plastics exhibit sulfur‐rich skeletons with an enlarged interlayer distance, and demonstrate superior sodium storage performance. It is believed that the present results offer a new solution to alleviate plastic pollution and reduce the carbon footprint of plastic industry.
ISSN:2198-3844