Upcycling polyolefins to methane-free liquid fuel by a Ru1-ZrO2 catalyst

Jicong Yan, Guanna Li, Zhanwu Lei, Xiaolu Yuan, Junting Li, Xiaoru Wang, Bo Wang, Fuping Tian, Tao Hu, Lei Huang, Yujia Ding, Xiaoke Xi, Feng Zhu, Shuo Zhang, Jiong Li, Yu Chen, Ruiguo Cao and Xiang Wang ()
Additional contact information
Jicong Yan: Dalian University of Technology
Guanna Li: Wageningen University
Zhanwu Lei: University of Science and Technology of China
Xiaolu Yuan: Dalian University of Technology
Junting Li: Dalian University of Technology
Xiaoru Wang: Dalian University of Technology
Bo Wang: Dalian University of Technology
Fuping Tian: Dalian University of Technology
Tao Hu: Dalian University of Technology
Lei Huang: Shanghai University
Yujia Ding: Illinois Institute of Technology
Xiaoke Xi: University of Science and Technology of China
Feng Zhu: City University of Hong Kong
Shuo Zhang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jiong Li: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yu Chen: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ruiguo Cao: University of Science and Technology of China
Xiang Wang: Dalian University of Technology

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Upcycling waste plastics into liquid fuels presents significant potential for advancing the circular economy but is hindered by poor selectivity and low-value methane byproduct formation. In this work, we report that atomic Ru-doped ZrO2 can selectively convert 100 grams of post-consumer polyethylene and polypropylene, yielding 85 mL of liquid in a solvent-free hydrocracking. The liquid (C5-C20) comprises ~70% jet-fuel-ranged branched hydrocarbons (C8-C16), while the gas product is liquefied-petroleum-gas (C3-C6) without methane and ethane. We found that the atomic Ru dopant in the Ru-O-Zr moiety functionalizes its neighboring O atom, originally inert, to create a Brønsted acid site. This Brønsted acid site, rather than the atomic Ru dopant itself, selectively governs the internal C−C bond cleavage in polyolefins through a carbonium ion mechanism, thereby enhancing the yield of jet-fuel-ranged hydrocarbons and suppressing methane formation. This oxide modulation strategy provides a paradigm shift in catalyst design for hydrocracking waste plastics and holds potential for a broad spectrum of applications.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-57998-x Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-57998-x

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-57998-x

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().