Abstract
Thermocatalytic conversion of plastic wastes using titanium dioxide (TiO2) is a novel and promising approach for waste management and sustainable production of materials. In this approach, the heat-treatment of a mixture of plastic waste and TiO2 at elevated temperatures helps to achieve fast and complete decomposition and offers several advanced byproducts. In this study, the different physicochemical interactions between TiO2 and an industrial plastic waste (i.e., automotive shredder residue, ASR) at elevated temperatures were investigated. The nonisothermal degradation kinetics of ASR, with and without TiO2, were calculated from the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and results confirmed that the TiO2 influences and catalyzes the degradation of ASR. The analysis of the resulting gas showed that the TiO2 limits the formation of CO2 gas, which is considered an unfavorable product of thermal processes, without changing the quality of the hydrocarbons (i.e., oils) generated during the heat treatment of ASR. While ASR decomposes, TiO2 transforms into value-added Ti-based ceramics; this transformation generates a high yield of CO that can be collected for commercial purposes. In addition, TiO2 led to the formation of considerable quantities of onion-like carbon nanoparticles (OLC-NPs) from the gas phase; this product was characterized and its formation mechanism was discussed.
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