Electrochemical upvaluing of waste plastic

Abstract

Examples of electrochemistry directly assisting in the upvaluing of waste materials are known for condensation polymers, which can be solvolyzed into electrochemically active species, and for self-immolative polymers, whose degradation can be triggered by a redox mediator. Polyolefins (e.g. polyethylene, polypropylene) must first be degraded thermochemically into diacid intermediates, which can then be electrochemically reverted into unsaturated monomers. Electrochemical processes may be of most use for detecting and destroying microplastics, but the process economics have yet to be demonstrated.