Advances of rare earth-based catalysts for recycling CO2 and plastic waste

Abstract

The crisis caused by the excessive use of fossil fuels—emissions of billions of tonnes of CO₂ and the accumulation of plastic waste—is imminent. Conventional disposal technologies, such as physical storage, face risks of leakage, capacity limitations, and secondary pollution (such as microplastics). In contrast, chemical recycling, especially thermal catalytic technology, is considered a key alternative solution due to its high resource recovery potential. However, its large-scale implementation remains hindered by the absence of efficient and durable catalysts. Rare earth-based catalysts, with their unique 4f/5d electronic structure and tunable coordination environments, demonstrate significant advantages in activating inert C–C/C–H bonds, promoting CO₂ adsorption and conversion, inhibiting coking and deactivation, and making them highly competitive for CO₂ hydrogenation and plastic catalytic conversion. Despite rapid progress, challenges related to cost, long-term stability, and mechanistic understanding persist, impeding their industrial application. This review systematically summarises the controlled synthesis and in situ characterisation methods of rare earth-based catalysts and thoroughly explores their applications, performance regulation mechanisms, and challenges in CO₂ hydrogenation and plastic recycling, aiming to provide insights for designing efficient, stable, and industrially scalable rare earth catalytic systems.