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BIOCATALYTIC PHOTOELECTROCHEMISTRY

Making molecules with microplastics

Nature Synthesis volume 1, pages 751–752 (2022)Cite this article

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Methods for electrochemical recycling of microplastic waste to value-added products are extremely sought-after. Here, a tandem photoelectrochemical-bioelectrocatalytic approach converts microplastics to chemical fuels and uses the microplastics as an electron source for electrochemical transformations.

Plastic waste is continuously accumulating, owing to the constant demand for plastic in our everyday lives. Strategies for recycling such waste are critical for lessening the environmental impact of plastic use1. Unfortunately, many methods for recycling plastics cause the materials to lose important mechanical properties. As a result, many plastic materials, such as poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), are simply not collected for recycling2.

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Fig. 1: Electrochemical recycling of PET powers enzymatic electrosynthesis.

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  1. Twitter: @MinteerLab

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Dylan G. Boucher & Shelley D. Minteer

Authors
  1. Dylan G. Boucher
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  2. Shelley D. Minteer
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Correspondence to Shelley D. Minteer.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Boucher, D.G., Minteer, S.D. Making molecules with microplastics. Nat. Synth 1, 751–752 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44160-022-00155-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44160-022-00155-9

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