Abstract
Plastics, originated as fossil fuels, offer numerous benefits, but emit greenhouse gases from cradle to grave. Recycling of waste plastics and mitigating CO2 significantly contribute to combat the climate crisis while also generating economic value. This thesis focuses on separately accomplishing two parts, that is, the application of carbon nanotubes from chemical vapour deposition of waste plastics (pCNTs), as well as absorbing CO2 from flue gas and in-suit converted to syngas, which lay a foundation for capturing CO2 from pyrolysis gas products of waste plastics. As major high-value solid products, carbon nanotubes produced from waste plastics were utilised as additives. The mechanical and thermal properties of pCNTs were systematically and comprehensively investigated by adding them to epoxy resin and phase change materials, respectively. The feasibility of pCNTs was verified through the comparative study of commercial carbon nanotubes. Meanwhile, CO2 in gas pyrolysis products of waste plastics are promising for producing syngas by ICCU-RWGS reaction in the future. Therefore, this thesis also studies the ICCU-RWGS performance of marble under simulated flue gas. The influence of factors such as water vapour and O2 on the performance and cyclic stability of marble was investigated. To expand the application of marble, the mechanism and cyclic degradation process of marble was investigated to explore the feasibility of scale-up application. This work is essential to expand the high-value utilisation of waste plastics in the environmental protection field.Thesis is embargoed until 31 July 2029.
| Date of Award | Jul 2024 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Sponsors | Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC) |
| Supervisor | Chunfei Wu (Supervisor) & Steven Bell (Supervisor) |
Keywords
- waste plastics
- carbon nanotubes
- epoxy resin composites
- phase change material composites
- integrated carbon capture and utilisation
- reverse water gas shift
- marble
- 3D printing
- battery thermal management system