A multifunctional SiC@HZSM-5@CoFe2O4 catalyst for synergistic co-pyrolysis of biomass and waste plastics by microwave irradiation

Improving the yield of the target product of monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons plays an important role in increasing the economic competitiveness of biomass and waste plastics. In this study, a 3D SiC@HZSM-5@CoFe 2 O 4 multifunctional catalyst with high microwave absorptivity and excellent catalysis was successfully fabricated by a “coating-coating” method. Results showed that the obtained SiC@HZSM-5@CoFe 2 O 4 catalyst had a stable porous structure, abundant oxygen vacancy defects, high specific surface area, good dielectric loss performance, and magnetic loss performance. Encouragingly, co-pyrolysis of corncob (CC) and polystyrene (PS) revealed that the catalyst significantly promoted the synergistic effect and improved the selectivity of renewable gasoline-range aromatics (47.2 area %). In addition, finite element simulations indicated that the prepared catalyst with high microwave absorptivity could effectively accelerate the mass and heat transfer, thereby facilitating the cracking and conversion of pyrolysis vapors. This work provides an efficient method for the production of renewable gasoline-range aromatics from the mixture of biomass and waste plastics by microwave-assisted co-pyrolysis (MACP).