Turning plastic trash into treasure

Date posted
Funding Agency
(Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation)

Researchers have developed a new method for upcycling abundant, seemingly low-value plastics into high-quality liquid products, such as motor oils, lubricants, detergents, and even cosmetics. The catalyst used to convert plastics into value-added commercial products consists of platinum nanoparticles — just two nanometers in size — deposited onto perovskite nanocubes, which are about 50-60 nanometers in size. Northwestern University, Argonne National Laboratory, and Ames Laboratory led the multi-institutional team.