TY  - JOUR
AU  - Zhao, Zhenyu
AU  - Bai, Jiayi
AU  - Tao, Han
AU  - Wang, Shenyao
AU  - Wang, Kaili
AU  - Lin, Wenjun
AU  - Jiang, Lili
AU  - Li, Haoran
AU  - Wang, Congmin
PY  - 2026
TI  - Ionic liquids with multiple hydrogen bonds as metal-free catalysts for efficient hydrolysis of PET under relatively mild conditions
JO  - Green Chemical Engineering
SN  - 2096-9147
SP  - 219
EP  - 224
VL  - 7
IS  - 2
AB  - Due to the strong hydrophobicity of PET, chemical catalysts usually require harsh conditions. Herein, inspired by the catalytic sites of PETase, we reported a metal-free catalyst with both high stability and activity, which could achieve almost complete hydrolysis of PET (≥ 99%) under relatively mild conditions (100 ℃, PH ≈ 8). Mechanistic investigations showed that hydrogen bonds played an important role. With the increase of hydrogen bond multiplicity and strength, the reaction barrier decreased gradually. We believe that this work might provide a direction for the development of efficient metal-free catalysts and have great industrial application prospects.
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gce.2024.12.001
DO  - 10.1016/j.gce.2024.12.001