Preparation of carbon nanotubes by catalytic pyrolysis of dechlorinated PVC

Plastic waste is attracting growing interest for its utilization potential as a valuable resource. However, conventional thermochemical methods can hardly achieve high-value utilization of certain plastics, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) characterized with high chlorine content. Here, a low-temperature aerobic pretreatment method was introduced to realize high-efficiency dechlorination of PVC, and then the dechlorinated PVC was used to prepare carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by a catalytic pyrolysis. The results demonstrate that oxygen can significantly promote the HCl release in a pretty low-temperature range (260–340 °C). Chlorine was almost completely eliminated at 280 °C under 20 % oxygen concentration. Compared to untreated PVC, using the dechlorinated PVC as raw material, higher carbon deposition was obtained and over 60 % CNTs could be collected from the carbon deposition. This study provides a high-value utilization way for the production of CNTs from waste PVC.