Scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have created a process that can upcycle most plastics into chemical ingredients useful for energy storage, using light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and a commercially available catalyst, all at room temperature.
and benzoic acid, which can be used to make other chemicals employed in fuel cells and liquid organic hydrogen carriers . LOHCs are now being explored by the energy sector as they play critical roles in clean energy development, given their ability to store and transport hydrogen gas more safely.
Prof Soo adds that their method is unique in that it can use sunlight or LEDs powered with electricity from renewable sources such as solar, wind or geothermal, to completely process and upcycle such a wide range of plastics.
This study is part of a bigger project, entitled SPRUCE: Sustainable Plastics RepUrposing for a Circular Economy, which also involves Professor Xin Chang, Associate Dean from the Nanyang Business School and Associate Professor Md Saidul Islam from the School of Social Sciences. Based on the estimations by Prof Chang and other team members, the economic benefit of reducing carbon dioxide emissions is estimated to be S$41.40m per year while the estimated cost savings from avoiding landfill use is about S$41.35 million per year in Singapore. Plastic reuse and recycling are projected to generate a profitpool growth of as much as US$60 billion for the chemical industry globally.
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