But now chemists have developed an innovative new way to turn supermarket plastic packaging into a clean source of hydrogen, in a process that requires a fraction of the time and cost.
In collaboration with colleagues at universities and institutions in the UK, China and Saudi Arabia, researchers in the Edwards/Xiao group at Oxford’s Department of Chemistry achieved the breakthrough thanks to tiny particles of iron and microwaves.
To the next level:
For now, the initial process was executed on a small scale, but researchers believe that it might one day allow post-consumer plastics to be converted at scale to produce clean hydrogen fuel — helping to both to reduce plastic pollution and create a steady supply of clean energy.
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