Upgrading the waste acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene into crude oil and highly efficient electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction

Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) is a thermoplastic copolymer that is used in a variety of applications due to its unique physicochemical properties, however, there is not yet an established recycling scheme for this material. This work presents the transformation of waste ABS into efficient platinum group metal-free electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline media and crude oil. Waste ABS was pyrolyzed at three different temperatures and subsequently functionalized with iron phthalocyanine (FePc). Separately, the char obtained at a higher temperature during the first pyrolysis was additionally mixed with a commercial conductive carbon black and functionalized to obtain electrocatalysts with excellent performance towards ORR in an alkaline environment. The most promising electrocatalyst showed onset potential (Eon) of 0.94 V vs. RHE and half-wave potential (E1/2) of 0.86 V vs. RHE with peroxide production of less than 5 % over the entire potential window. The liquid oil produced during pyrolysis was recovered and underwent a complete chemical characterization.