Catalyst-free upcycling of crosslinked polyethylene foams for CO2 capture

Abstract Recycling of crosslinked plastics is an intractable challenge due to their very limited amenability mechanical reprocessing. While a variety chemical recycling methods have been recently reported, these systems primarily focus on deconstructing or depolymerizing monomers and liquid fuels, which subsequent use likely involves additional energy consumption greenhouse gas emission. In this work, we present simple, scalable, catalyst-free method for directly converting polyethylene (PE) foams into porous carbon materials. This process enabled by sulfonation-based crosslinking, allowing the conversion PE become efficient precursors, while retaining high porosity feature from foam precursors. Through two steps sulfonation carbonization, derived carbons contain relatively surface area sulfur-doped framework. As result, materials can exhibit CO 2 sorption capacity /N selectivity. work presents viable pathway address grand-scale environmental challenges plastic wastes emissions. Graphical abstract