Catalytic Degradation of Polyethylene Terephthalate Using a Phase‐Transitional Zirconium‐Based Metal–Organic Framework. Issue 24 (20th April 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wu, Yufang; Wang, Xingjie; Kirlikovali, Kent O.; Gong, Xinyi; Atilgan, Ahmet; Ma, Kaikai; Schweitzer, Neil M.; Gianneschi, Nathan C.; Li, Zhong; Zhang, Xuan; Farha, Omar K.
• Is Part Of: Angewandte Chemie international edition. Volume 61:Issue 24(2022)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2022-04-20
• Subjects: Metal–Organic Frameworks -- PET Degradation -- Phase Transitions -- Plastic Recycling; Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.202117528
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1433-7851

Abstract

Abstract: Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is utilized as one of the most popular consumer plastics worldwide, but difficulties associated with recycling PET have generated a severe environmental crisis with most PET ending its lifecycle in landfills. We report that zirconium‐based metal–organic framework (Zr‐MOF) UiO‐66 deconstructs waste PET into the building blocks terephthalic acid (TA) and mono‐methyl terephthalate (MMT) within 24 hours at 260 °C (total yield of 98 % under 1 atm H2 and 81 % under 1 atm Ar). Extensive structural characterization studies reveal that during the degradation process, UiO‐66 undergoes an intriguing transformation into MIL‐140A, which is another Zr‐MOF that shows good catalytic activity toward PET degradation under similar reaction conditions. These results illustrate the diversity of applications for Zr‐MOFs and establish MOFs as a new class of polymer degradation catalysts with the potential to address long‐standing challenges associated with plastic waste. Abstract : Zirconium‐based metal–organic framework (Zr‐MOF) UiO‐66 catalyzes the degradation of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) into monomers. During the degradation process, UiO‐66 transforms into another Zr‐MOF MIL‐140 which also shows good catalytic reactivity for the degradation of PET.