PHOTOCATALYTIC VALORIZATION OF WASTE

PLASTICS UNDER AMBIENT CONDITIONS

Hafiz Muzammil Iftikhar 20-CH-37
Muhammad Sumain Sulehri 20-CH-13
Hamdan Khan 20-CH-25
Rana Faisal Nawaz 20-CH-14

SUPERVISOR: DR. MUHAMMAD SHAHAB ALAM

CO-SUPERVISOR: ENGR. SHAHRUKH MEMON

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING DUET KARACHI

CONTENTS

• INTRODUCTION
• PROBLEM STATEMENT
• LITERATURE REVIEW
• RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
• METHODOLOGY
 Synthesis of photocatalyst
 Fabrication and optimization of photoreactor
• PROJECT CONTRIBUTION
• SDGs
• TIMEFRAME
• REFERENCES
 INTRODUCTION
• Plastic waste takes around 500 years to decompose and converts into microplastics that become a part of food
chain and have drastic impacts on ecosystems. Dumping waste plastics in landfills produces GHG (Green House
Gases) upon decomposition.
• Pyrolysis of waste plastics is energy consuming and produces dioxins and furans that are known carcinogens.
• As per UN assessments, more than 3.3 million tons of plastic is wasted each year in Pakistan.
• Photoreforming harnesses the redox ability of photocatalysts upon illumination, to simultaneously drive the
reduction of H+ into hydrogen gas and oxidation of organic compounds. It requires low energy and can proceed
under sunlight irradiation.
• This research emphasizes the use of Titanium Dioxide (TiO ₂) doped with Iron Oxide (Fe ₂O ₃) for use as a
photocatalyst in valorizing waste plastics.
PROBLEM STATEMENT

Plastic waste poses a serious threat to our eco systems and food chains and depletes resources.

Traditional recycling is limited, and incineration creates harmful emissions. A sustainable technology to

upcycle plastic waste into valuable resources like fuels, chemicals, or new plastics is the need of the

hour, a technology that is sustainable, efficient, selective, economically viable, and scalable.
 PHOTOCATALYSIS THERMOCATALYSIS DOWN UTILIZATION LANDFILL

ECONOMIC
BENEFIT

ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACT

ENERGY
CONSUMPTION

PRODUCT
SELECTIVITY
LITERATURE REVIEW
AUTHOR YEAR SUMMARY

Doping TiO₂ with Fe from iron rusty waste enhances its activity under visible light. Fe dopant
atoms successfully enter the crystal lattice of TiO ₂. Doped TiO ₂ shows higher activity in the
presence of visible light.
Endang Tri Wahyuni 2023 The highest photodegradation of Congo red can be achieved using TiO ₂-Fe (1:0.4). Fe doping
at al. considerably enhances TiO₂ activity in dye degradation. Fe-doped TiO ₂ shows absorption edge
at longer wavelengths, entering the visible region.

Photo reforming process can convert solid waste into value-added products.
Solid waste photo reforming can mitigate resource depletion and CO ₂ accumulation.
S. Kang et al. 2022 Cooperatively coupling hydrogen production with solid waste valorization is advantageous.
State-of-the-art photocatalysts can be used for valorization of biomass, plastics, and food
wastes.
High-performance catalysts are needed to tackle future challenges in photo reforming.
LITERATURE REVIEW
AUTHOR YEAR SUMMARY

The cost analysis of a slurry system based on photocatalyst is covered in the paper.
Systems for suction and appropriate membrane cloths may be needed for
C. Y. Toe et al. 2022 photocatalyst filtering. Smallest scale commercial drum filter is sufficient for the
slurry system. Cost of photocatalyst replacement is part of OPEX materials cost.

Metal ions (Fe, Ag, and Ni) and nitrogen were doped into TiO2.
Extended absorption of visible light was observed in doped TiO2.
B.-G. Park 2021 Noble metal doping, such as Au and Pt, shown increased photocatalytic activity.
The maximum photolysis activity and sterilizing efficiency were found in
N/Ni/TiO2.
N/Ni/TiO2 exhibited greater optical intensity and a smaller bandgap.
LITERATURE REVIEW
YEAR AUTHOR SUMMARY
Bismuth (Bi), reduced graphene oxide (RGO), and graphene oxide (GO) were used to
decorate TiO2 nanotubes (TNTs).
The cylindrical anodized TNTs were very effective in breaking down organic pollutants
when used as photocatalysts.
A. Uheida 2021 TNTs and modified TNTs combined form a continuous-flow photocatalytic reactor that
is useful for treating wastewater in the textile.
Methylene blue (MB) dye degradation was more active when the ornamented TNTs
were used.
RGO-TNTs, Bi-TNTs, and GO-TNTs were used to accelerate the rate of MB removal in
visible light.

Immobilization of zinc oxide nanorods onto glass fiber substrates. Photocatalytic

degradation of polypropylene microplastics achieved by visible light. Reduction of
I. Ali and J.-O. Kim 2018 average particle volume by 65% after two weeks. Major photodegradation by-products
identified as mostly nontoxic molecules.
Sustainable green photocatalytic removal of microplastics from water proposed under
visible light.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

Synthesis of efficient, stable, non-toxic, and inexpensive photocatalyst that does not require UV for activation
and works under sunlight.

Fabricate a photocatalytic reactor for photoreforming of mixed plastic wastes for value-added products
(acetates, hydrogen, ethane, propane, etc.)

Optimize the process selectivity and maximize production of value-added products minimizing the release of
harmful pollutants from plastic waste treatment processes.
METHODOLOGY
 SYNTHESIS OF PHOTOCATALYST:

• Titanium Dioxide (TiO₂) nano particles formation.

• Doping of Titanium Dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles with Iron Oxide (Fe ₂O ₃) for improved activity and
selectivity.
• XRD & UV-Vis testing for characterization of photocatalyst.

 FABRICATION & OPTIMIZATION OF PHOTOREACTOR:

• Slurry photoreactor fabrication and optimization for continuous flow for high throughput and desired
product yields.
• All calculations for reactor in FORTRAN and MATLAB PHOTOREAC.
• GC-MS & FTIR performed for identification of photo reformed products.
 PROJECT PROGRESS

TITANIUM DIOXIDE NANOPARTICLES SYNTHESIS

PROJECT CONTRIBUTION

PROFESSIONAL COMPLEX KNOWLEDGE PROGRAM

COMPETENCIES PROBLEM SOLVING PROFILES LEARNING
(ECs) (WP) (WK) OUTCOMES
(PLO)

EC 4 WP 1 WK 1 PLO-1
EC 5 WP 2 WK 2 PLO-2
EC 6 WP 3 WK 3 PLO-3
EC 8 WP 6 WK 4 PLO-4
EP 1 WK 5 PLO-5
WK 6 PLO-7
WK 8
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
 S.no. Milestone Timeline (Months)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Literature
1
Review
Formulating
2 Research

TIME Methods
3 Experiments
FRAME
4 Data Analysis

Design,
fabrication and
5
optimization of
reactor

6 Thesis draft
REFERENCES

[1] Endang Tri Wahyuni, Novianti Dwi Lestari, Ibanez Rosesya Cinjana, Syafriyanti Annur, Taufik Abdillah Natsir,
and Mudasir Mudasir, “Doping TiO2 with Fe from iron rusty waste for enhancing its activity under visible light in
the Congo red dye photodegradation,” Journal of Engineering and Applied Science, vol. 70, no. 1, Feb. 2023, doi:
https://doi.org/10.1186/s44147-023-00178-9.

[2] M. Du, M. Xing, S. Kang, Y. Ma, B. Qiu, and Y. Chai, “Building a bridge from solid wastes to solar fuels and
chemicals via artificial photosynthesis,” EcoMat, Jul. 2022, doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/eom2.12259.

[3] C. Y. Toe, J. Pan, J. Scott, and R. Amal, “Identifying Key Design Criteria for Large-Scale Photocatalytic
Hydrogen Generation from Engineering and Economic Perspectives,” ACS ES&T Engineering, vol. 2, no. 6, pp.
1130–1143, Apr. 2022, doi: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestengg.2c00030.

[4] B.-G. Park, “Photocatalytic Activity of TiO2-Doped Fe, Ag, and Ni with N under Visible Light Irradiation,”
Gels, vol. 8, no. 1, p. 14, Dec. 2021, doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/gels8010014
REFERENCES

[5] I. Ali and J.-O. Kim, “Continuous-Flow Photocatalytic Degradation of Organics Using Modified TiO2
Nanocomposites,” Catalysts, vol. 8, no. 2, p. 43, Jan. 2018, doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/catal8020043

[6] A. Uheida, H. G. Mejía, M. Abdel-Rehim, W. Hamd, and J. Dutta, “Visible light photocatalytic degradation of
polypropylene microplastics in a continuous water flow system,” Journal of Hazardous Materials, vol. 406, p.
124299, Mar. 2021, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124299.
Thank you