Plasma-driven catalytic process for plastic waste upcycling over perovskite-type pre-catalysts

The increasing demand for plastics poses significant challenges for post-consumer waste management. In this work, we propose a novel plasma-thermal catalytic tandem process over perovskite-type La0.6Ca0.4Co1–xFexO3−δ (LCCF) pre-catalysts for upcycling plastic waste into H2 and value-added metal oxide–carbon composite materials. Among the evaluated pre-catalysts, La0.6Ca0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3−δ prepared by ultrasonic spray synthesis (USS) demonstrated the highest performance, achieving an H2 yield of 54.7 mmol/gplastic (∼76.6 % of theoretical H2 production) with a selectivity of 78 %. Morphological differences between pre-catalysts synthesized via USS and co-precipitation appear to play a crucial role in their catalytic efficiency. Life cycle assessment results indicate that the ultrasonic spray synthesis method is more environmentally sustainable than the co-precipitation method for LCCF production. Considering the high H2 yield during plastic upcycling using the La0.6Ca0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3−δ pre-catalyst prepared by USS, along with its lower environmental impact during pre-catalyst production compared to the co-precipitation method, the plasma-thermal catalytic tandem process using this pre-catalyst offers a promising and sustainable approach to plastic waste upcycling.