To date, various types of plastics are used globally, primarily composed of carbon and hydrogen. However, “white pollution” has become an increasingly serious issue due to the accumulation of plastic waste on land and in oceans. Recycling this waste presents a significant challenge because of the chemical stability of plastics in natural environments. Traditional recycling methods often fail to fully utilize the potential of polymers and may raise environmental concerns. Therefore, it is urgent to develop environmentally friendly approaches for converting plastic waste into high-value-added products. One promising strategy is the carbonization of plastic waste, taking advantage of the broad applications of carbon materials. Using this method, we have developed a series of strategies to convert plastic waste into carbon materials, e.g. porous carbon. Notably, the resulting carbon nanomaterials have been successfully applied in lithium-ion batteries and supercapacitors. In another approach, waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) was firstly converted into metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), which were then directly used as catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). PET-derived MOFs showed excellent OER performance compared with traditional MOFs. The above results demonstrate that this is a cost-effective and efficient method for transforming plastic waste into valuable products. Together, these findings offer a promising pathway for upcycling plastic waste into functional, high-value materials.

Waste Plastic, MOF, Porous Carbon, Energy Storage