Solar-driven catalytic plastic upcycling

The extensive use of plastic products has led to severe plastic pollution. The use of solar energy to drive waste plastic upcycling is expected to achieve simulta-neous resource sustainability, clean energy storage, and environmental remedi-ation. This article reviews the current strategies and mechanisms of solar-driven catalytic plastic upcycling. Photocatalytic upcycling allows the reaction to hap-pen under mild conditions, and we discuss how to precisely control the catalytic potential to activate designated chemical bonds and selectively produce high value-added products. The photothermal catalytic process can combine the advantages of photocatalysis and thermal treatment, raising the reaction rate to the next level, and the rational catalyst designs are also prospected in detail based on previous research.