2020/10/22 by Fan Zhang, Manhao Zeng, Ryan Yappert +6 · 2 citations
Environmental Science · Materials Science · #Microplastics and Plastic Pollution #Recycling and Waste Management Techniques #biodegradable polymer synthesis and properties
paper · doi:10.1126/science.abc5441
openalex publication_date 2020/10/22 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
A new future for polyethylene Most current plastic recycling involves chopping up the waste and repurposing it in materials with less stringent engineering requirements than the original application. Chemical decomposition at the molecular level could, in principle, lead to higher-value products. However, the carbon-carbon bonds in polyethylene, the most common plastic, tend to resist such approaches without exposure to high-pressure hydrogen. F. Zhang et al. now report that a platinum/alumina catalyst can transform waste polyethylene directly into long-chain alkylbenzenes, a feedstock for detergent manufacture, with no need for external hydrogen (see the Perspective by Weckhuysen). Science , this issue p. 437 ; see also p. 400