Upcycling rust and plastic waste into an Fe MOF for effective energy storage applications: transformation of trash to treasure

Abstract

The upcycling of waste into valuable chemicals has gained significant attention in recent years as a way to reduce waste and promote the circular economy. The transition to a circular economy that includes waste upcycling is crucial for addressing the global challenge of resource depletion and waste management. To that end, an Fe-based metal–organic framework material (Fe-BDC(W)) has been synthesized completely via the utilization of waste materials. The upcycling of rust gives the Fe salt, whilst the benzene dicarboxylic acid (BDC) linker has been derived from waste polyethylene terephthalate plastic bottles. Sustainable energy storage from waste materials seeks to produce environmentally benign and economically viable energy storage technologies. The prepared MOF has been deployed as an active material for a supercapacitor, which achieves a specific capacitance of 752 F g⁻¹ at 4 A g⁻¹, comparable with the MOF produced from commercially available chemicals, Fe-BDC(C).