Catalytic Degradation of Polyethylene Terephthalate Using a Phase-Transitional Zirconium-Based Metal–Organic Framework

Yufang Wu; Xingjie Wang; Kent O. Kirlikovali; Xinyi Gong; Ahmet Atilgan; Kaikai Ma; Neil M. Schweitzer; Nathan C. Gianneschi; Zhong Li; Xuan Zhang; Omar K. Farha

doi:10.1002/anie.202117528

Catalytic Degradation of Polyethylene Terephthalate Using a Phase-Transitional Zirconium-Based Metal–Organic Framework

Yufang Wu, Xingjie Wang, Kent O. Kirlikovali, Xinyi Gong, Ahmet Atilgan, Kaikai Ma, Neil M. Schweitzer, Nathan C. Gianneschi, Zhong Li, Xuan Zhang, Omar K. Farha (Corresponding Author)

Research output: Journal article publication › Journal article › Academic research › peer-review

99 Citations (Scopus)

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.

Original language	English
Article number	e202117528
Journal	Angewandte Chemie - International Edition
Volume	61
Issue number	24
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202117528
Publication status	Published - 13 Jun 2022
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Metal–Organic Frameworks
PET Degradation
Phase Transitions
Plastic Recycling

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Catalysis
General Chemistry

More information

10.1002/anie.202117528

Cite this

Wu, Y., Wang, X., Kirlikovali, K. O., Gong, X., Atilgan, A., Ma, K., Schweitzer, N. M., Gianneschi, N. C., Li, Z., Zhang, X., & Farha, O. K. (2022). Catalytic Degradation of Polyethylene Terephthalate Using a Phase-Transitional Zirconium-Based Metal–Organic Framework. Angewandte Chemie - International Edition, 61(24), Article e202117528. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202117528

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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.",

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AU - Wu, Yufang

AU - Wang, Xingjie

AU - Kirlikovali, Kent O.

AU - Gong, Xinyi

AU - Atilgan, Ahmet

AU - Ma, Kaikai

AU - Schweitzer, Neil M.

AU - Gianneschi, Nathan C.

AU - Li, Zhong

AU - Zhang, Xuan

AU - Farha, Omar K.

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AB - 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.

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Catalytic Degradation of Polyethylene Terephthalate Using a Phase-Transitional Zirconium-Based Metal–Organic Framework

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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