Suitable disposal pathways of waste plastics and coal fly ash have yet not been established which is a matter of great environmental concern. Waste low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) were degraded using a semi-batch reactor along with acid or alkali modified fly ash catalyst. The high yield of liquid fuel product (about 87.24 wt%) was achieved for low-density polyethylene at a polymer and catalyst ratio of 25 w/w. About 96% conversion was found with very few amount of gaseous fuels. Both of the waste plastics were degraded at 400–450 °C. The liquid products were analyzed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H, ¹³C, and DEPT-135 NMR), and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Fly ash is an efficient catalyst to degrade waste plastic into light weight liquid (gasoline and kerosene) hydrocarbons. The NMR results accompanied by GC–MS data ensure that obtained fuels contain both aliphatic (saturated and unsaturated) and aromatic hydrocarbons. This plastic-to-fuel technology should be commercialized owing to be profitable and eco-friendly.

Graphic abstract

中文翻译：

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使用粉煤灰催化剂将废塑料转化为燃料

尚未建立合适的废塑料和粉煤灰处置途径，这是一个非常引起环境关注的问题。使用半间歇式反应器将废低密度聚乙烯（LDPE）和高密度聚乙烯（HDPE）与酸或碱改性的粉煤灰催化剂一起降解。对于低密度聚乙烯，聚合物和催化剂比例为25 w / w时，液体燃料产品的产率高（约87.24 wt％）。发现极少量的气体燃料可实现约96％的转化率。两种废塑料都在400–450°C下降解。使用傅里叶变换红外光谱（FTIR），核磁共振（¹ H，¹³C和DEPT-135 NMR），以及气相色谱-质谱（GC-MS）。粉煤灰是将废塑料降解为轻质液态（汽油和煤油）烃的有效催化剂。NMR结果以及GC-MS数据可确保获得的燃料同时包含脂肪族（饱和和不饱和）和芳香族烃。这种塑料燃料技术因其有利可图和生态友好而应商业化。

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