該過程可以將食品雜貨袋和食品包裝中的塑料回收為液體燃料和蠟。
For the first time, researchers have used a novel catalyst process to recycle a type of plastic found in everything from grocery bags and food packaging to toys and electronics into liquid fuels and wax.
研究人員第一次使用一種新穎的催化劑工藝來回收從雜貨袋和食品包裝到玩具和電子產品等所有產品中使用的一種塑料，再將其再循環為液體燃料和蠟。
Polyolefin plastics - the most common plastics - have physical properties, which make it difficult for the catalysts responsible for inducing chemical conversion to directly interact with molecular elements and cause changes. Current recycling requires a temperature of at least 573 degrees Kelvin and a maximum of 1173 degrees Kelvin. For comparison, the boiling point of water is 373.15 degrees Kelvin and that of the sun's surface is 5778 degrees Kelvin.
聚烯烴塑料-最常見的塑料-具有物理特性，使得負責誘導化學轉化的催化劑難以直接與分子元素發生相互作用而引起變化。當前的回收工作要求溫度至少為573開氏度，最高為1173開氏度。為了進行比較，水的沸點是開爾文373.15度，太陽表面的開爾文是5778度。
Researchers look for heterogeneous catalysts to find reactions that may require lower temperatures to activate. They hypothesized that by using a catalyst in a different physical state than plastic, they speculated that the reaction would be stronger at lower temperatures.
研究人員尋找非均相催化劑，以尋找可能需要較低溫度才能活化的反應。他們假設通過使用與塑料不同的物質狀態的催化劑，他們推測該反應在較低溫度下會更強。
They were used to combine cerium (473) with a ruthenium oxide metal at the polishing temperature to make a glass. Although it is still highly sensitive to humans, it requires much less energy input than other catalyst systems.
他們將釕（一種鉑族金屬）與二氧化鈰（用於拋光玻璃）結合使用，產生了一種使塑料在473開氏溫度下反應的催化劑。儘管對人類的敏感性仍然很高，但與其他催化劑系統相比，它所需的能量輸入要少得多。
According to Tamura and tomishige, it has never been reported in the scientific literature that ruthenium based catalysts can be used as a method for direct recovery of polyolefin plastics.
根據Tamura和Tomishige的說法，科學文獻中從未報導過釕基催化劑可作為直接回收聚烯烴塑料的方法。
Researchers used the catalyst to treat a plastic bag and waste plastic, resulting in 92% yield of useful materials, including 77% yield of liquid fuel and 15% yield of wax.
研究人員用該催化劑處理了一個塑膠袋並處理了廢塑料，產生了92％的有用材料收率，其中77％的液體燃料收率和15％的蠟收率。
"This catalyst system is expected to help not only suppress plastic waste, but also use it as a raw material for the production of chemicals," Tamura and tomishige said.
田村和Tomishige說：「這種催化劑體系有望不僅有助於抑制塑料廢料，而且還有助於將塑料廢料用作生產化學品的原料。」