Photoelectrochemical CO 2 -to-fuel conversion with simultaneous plastic reforming

Solar-driven conversion of CO 2 and plastics into value-added products provides a potential sustainable route towards a circular economy, but their simultaneous conversion in an integrated process is challenging. Here we introduce a versatile photoelectrochemical platform for CO 2 conversion that is coupled to the reforming of plastic. The perovskite-based photocathode enables the integration of different CO 2 -reduction catalysts such as a molecular cobalt porphyrin, a Cu 91 In 9 alloy and formate dehydrogenase enzyme, which produce CO, syngas and formate, respectively. The Cu 27 Pd 73 alloy anode selectively reforms polyethylene terephthalate plastics into glycolate in alkaline solution. The overall single-light-absorber photoelectrochemical system operates with the help of an internal chemical bias and under zero applied voltage. The system performs similarly to bias-free, dual-light absorber tandems and shows about 10‒100-fold higher production rates than those of photocatalytic suspension processes. This finding demonstrates efficient photoelectrochemical CO 2 -to-fuel production coupled to plastic-to-chemical conversion as a promising and sustainable technology powered by sunlight.