Highly Selective Catalytic Oxi-upcycling of Polyethylene to Aliphatic Dicarboxylic Acid under a Mild Hydrogen-Free Process

A low-temperature hydrogen-free process for upcycling polyethylene (PE) plastics into aliphatic dicarboxylic acid is developed using a heterogeneous catalyst Ru/TiO2. The low-density PE (LDPE) conversion can reach 95 % in 24 h under a pressure of 1.5 MPa air at 160 degrees C with 85 % of the liquid product yield, which mainly is low molecular weight aliphatic dicarboxylic acid. Excellent performances can be also achieved for different PE feedstocks. This catalytic oxi-upcycling process paving a new way of upcycling polyethylene waste.