China Achieves New Breakthrough in High-value Utilization of Waste Plastics
2026-5-9
On April 26th, the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (TIPC, CAS) announced that its research team has recently made a new breakthrough in the high-value utilization of waste plastics. By adopting the newly developed photocatalytic technology, waste PET polyester plastics and industrial waste gas sulfur dioxide are upcycled into organosulfur compounds with extensive application prospects.
This important research achievement in the field of photocatalysis provides a new strategy for the synthesis of organosulfur compounds, opens up a new approach for the high-value-added conversion of waste plastics, and enriches the product spectrum for the upcycling and recycling of polyester.
The research team stated that photocatalytic technology features green and mild reaction conditions. Previously, the team has successfully used waste plastics and ammonia as the carbon source and nitrogen source respectively, and prepared amino acids and formamide via photocatalytic C¨CN coupling reactions. On this basis, they further designed a copper single atom/titanium dioxide single-atom photocatalyst, which effectively enhances catalytic activity. Under light irradiation, ethylene glycol derived from polyester can be efficiently converted into hydroxymethyl sulfonate (HMS) and hydrogen.
It is understood that HMS is a typical organosulfur compound, widely applied in electroplating, pharmaceutical synthesis, food additives, agricultural materials, rubber materials and other fields. At present, industrial production of HMS mainly relies on the nucleophilic addition reaction of formaldehyde and sulfite. However, formaldehyde is derived from fossil energy sources and is highly toxic. It also tends to polymerize into paraformaldehyde, which causes pipeline blockage and production shutdown. Therefore, developing a green, efficient and sustainable new synthetic route for HMS bears important research significance and practical application value.
This important research achievement in the field of photocatalysis provides a new strategy for the synthesis of organosulfur compounds, opens up a new approach for the high-value-added conversion of waste plastics, and enriches the product spectrum for the upcycling and recycling of polyester.
The research team stated that photocatalytic technology features green and mild reaction conditions. Previously, the team has successfully used waste plastics and ammonia as the carbon source and nitrogen source respectively, and prepared amino acids and formamide via photocatalytic C¨CN coupling reactions. On this basis, they further designed a copper single atom/titanium dioxide single-atom photocatalyst, which effectively enhances catalytic activity. Under light irradiation, ethylene glycol derived from polyester can be efficiently converted into hydroxymethyl sulfonate (HMS) and hydrogen.
It is understood that HMS is a typical organosulfur compound, widely applied in electroplating, pharmaceutical synthesis, food additives, agricultural materials, rubber materials and other fields. At present, industrial production of HMS mainly relies on the nucleophilic addition reaction of formaldehyde and sulfite. However, formaldehyde is derived from fossil energy sources and is highly toxic. It also tends to polymerize into paraformaldehyde, which causes pipeline blockage and production shutdown. Therefore, developing a green, efficient and sustainable new synthetic route for HMS bears important research significance and practical application value.