Effects of Pretreatment Conditions and Branched Alkanes on Mo/MCM-41 Catalysts in Tandem Alkane Cross-metathesis for Non-hydrogen Polyolefin Recycling

Abstract Chemical plastic recycling has emerged as a crucial approach for advancing carbon neutrality by mitigating CO 2 emissions linked to further fossil fuel extraction. However, with most hydrogen currently sourced from fossil fuels, there is growing interest in non-hydrogen chemical recycling pathways. This study explores the degradation of heavy hydrocarbons through tandem alkane cross-metathesis (TACM), employing MoO x /MCM-41 as the olefin metathesis catalyst, which demonstrates high reactivity and stability. Despite these advantages, we observed that Mo migration during pretreatment leads to catalytic deactivation in the tandem system, presenting a significant challenge. To counter this, we developed a two-step pretreatment protocol that effectively mitigates Mo migration across different supports, thus enhancing overall catalyst performance. In addition, we discovered that the …