EUROPEAN CONGRESS AND EXHIBITION ON ADVANCED MATERIALS AND PROCESSES - EUROMAT 2021

Following the China’s ban on foreign trash and media coverage on the presence of microplastics in the environment, there is a pressing need to develop a sound management strategy for plastic waste. Thermochemical reactions, especially catalytic pyrolysis, is identified as the most promising solution to convert plastic waste into liquid fuels and chemical feedstock. At present, there are several challenges associated with such technology, including the need for liquid products upgrading and decontamination. On the other hand, following the rapid development of nanotechnology, it is expected that carbon nanomaterials, especially carbon nanotubes, will be used in more engineering and consumer products. Recently, there is a growing research interest in conversion of plastic waste to carbon nanomaterials, which could provide a solution to plastic waste management and high carbon footprint related to the carbon nanomaterials synthesis. Despite a growing number of publications on this topic, there is a lack of systematic examination on the rapid development of this topic. This study aims to fill in such research gap by providing an updated publication landscape related to the global development of plastic-to-(carbon nanomaterials) research, based on the publications extracted from Web of Science. The productivities of the key researchers in this field will also be revealed. This will be followed by synthesis of a knowledge structure related to plastic-to-(carbon nanomaterials) research to reveal the research hotspots in this field. The visualization of the publication landscape and knowledge structure related to plastic-to-(carbon nanomaterials) research is expected to presentation will definitely stimulate further intellectual discussions on the potential, opportunities and challenges of the plastic-to(carbon nanomaterials) conversion as a solution to the European’s strategy for a circular economy of plastics, as well as a more sustainable production of carbon nanomaterials.