With a team of material scientists, organic chemists, industrial engineers, the WPlast2H2 project aims to innovate in green hydrogen production by developing cost-effective and accessible catalysts, upcyclable from plastic and metal wastes. With regard to the regional potential waste sources and waste utilization barriers, we will establish a comprehensive multidisciplinary investigation on waste management, systematically (e.g., decision support framework), synthetic methods development toward carbon-based and metal-organic-based nanomaterials, and finally, modifying and investigating the catalysts toward (photo)(electro)catalytic (e.g., water splitting) for green and accessible hydrogen generation. These challenges align with the national priorities of applicant countries (Thailand, Turkey, Czech Republic, and Austria) in plastic waste management, sustainability of energy, and circular economy area. Therefore, this project, along with synthetic method development and catalyst design for green hydrogen generation, has a comprehensive plan in managemanetal aspect to identify and analyze multiple barriers in implementing the upcycling, encompassing all pillars of sustainability and circularity. Therefore, the barriers in each region will be evaluated using a Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) approach to discover the most critical challenges in selecting the waste polymers and solutions for resolving the issues.
The core of our proposal involves transforming plastic and metal waste into catalysts for water splitting through innovative methods: converting them into metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and creating porous carbon materials at lower temperatures with subsequent activation. These catalysts will be derived from plastic waste like PET, PP, and PE, by converting them into high surface area carbon materials and photoactive MOFs. This process utilizes plastic as an organic ligand source or a combination of these materials, aiming to enable efficient hydrogen production from water using currently discarded resources. Our novel approach of utilizing waste-derived catalysts for water splitting, especially with natural water sources and compatibility with commercial electrolyzers, signifies a significant progression in the field. The applicants bring expertise in materials preparation, characterization, and application in water splitting, with the project's proof of concept validated at laboratory conditions (TRL3), while further development for implementation (TRL5 or TRL6) is necessary.
The consortium will combine expertise and resources to address waste upcycling and hydrogen production challenges. Each partner will contribute unique capabilities, such as electrocatalysis, photocatalysis, and waste upcycling, to enhance the project's innovation potential. This collaboration will advance scientific knowledge and train the next generation of researchers in green energy and plastic upcycling.
*Project Budget: ~440,000 Euro
