Recycling of Plastic Waste using Nanocellulose Fibers and Produce Electric Energy

Abstract

The research proposes a novel and environmentally friendly method of recycling post-consumer’s plastic wastes to bacterial nanocellulose (BNC)-based electrocatalysts to generate renewable energy. Thermal pretreatment was carried out to convert plastic waste into a carbon rich substrate which was used for the biosynthesis of BNC. The nanocellulose thus obtained was afterwards functionalized with platinum nanoparticles to promote the electrical conductivity and catalytic ability. The mean value of conductivity, power density and voltage output for the composite were 0.97 S/cm, 5.16 mW / cm 2 and 0.545 V respectively with charge transfer resistance of 253 Ohms and charge retention of more than 91%.
This waste to energy is not only less plastic waste, but the process gives a biodegradable and high performance nanocomposite, which can facilitate stable energy systems. The data analysis has shown that the platinum concentration, temperature, and type of plastic has little effect on the performance, which indicates good scalability and stability of the process. Moreover, the total CO 2 reductions of all the experiments (20.66 tons) demonstrated the ecological positives of the material.
This article contributes to the circular bio economy by connecting nanotechnology, biotechnology and environmental engineering by accomplishing two goals, i.e. the valorization of waste and clean energy. The results indicate the possibility of using nanocellulose materials as scalable, environmentally friendly catalysts to enable the applications of industrial, microgrid, and bioenergy.