The upgrading of plastic waste is one of the grand challenges for the 21^st century owing to its disruptive impact on the environment. Here, we show the first example of the upgrading of various aromatic plastic wastes with C−O and/or C−C linkages to arenes (75–85 % yield) via catalytic hydrogenolysis over a Ru/Nb₂O₅ catalyst. This catalyst not only allows the selective conversion of single‐component aromatic plastic, and more importantly, enables the simultaneous conversion of a mixture of aromatic plastic to arenes. The excellent performance is attributed to unique features including: (1) the small sized Ru clusters on Nb₂O₅, which prevent the adsorption of aromatic ring and its hydrogenation; (2) the strong oxygen affinity of NbO_x species for C−O bond activation and Brønsted acid sites for C−C bond activation. This study offers a catalytic path to integrate aromatic plastic waste back into the supply chain of plastic production under the context of circular economy.

中文翻译：

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迈向循环经济：通过Ru / Nb2O5催化剂将芳香塑料废物转化为芳烃

废塑料的升级，是为21大挑战之一^ST世纪，由于其对环境的破坏性影响。在这里，我们展示了通过Ru / Nb ₂ O ₅催化剂进行催化氢解将具有C-O和/或C-C键的各种芳香塑料废物升级为芳烃（产率为75％至85％）的第一个示例。这种催化剂不仅允许单组分芳族塑料的选择性转化，而且更重要的是，可以将芳族塑料的混合物同时转化为芳烃。优异的性能归因于以下独特功能：（1）Nb ₂ O ₅上的小尺寸Ru团簇，防止芳环的吸附及其氢化；（2）NbO _x物质对C-O键的活化具有很强的氧亲和力，而Brønsted酸位对C-C键的活化作用。这项研究提供了一种催化途径，可以在循环经济的背景下将芳香族塑料废物整合回塑料生产的供应链中。