Upcycling waste polyethylene into porous chromium carbide (Cr₂₃C₆) ceramics at low temperature

Abstract

In this paper, we have successfully prepared porous chromium carbide ceramics by a facile one-step method. The synthesis reaction is carried out in an autoclave using waste polyethylene as a carbon source. Generally, the as-obtained chromium carbide is characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope. X-ray diffraction pattern shows that the as-obtained sample is cubic phase chromium carbide (Cr 23 C 6 ). The SEM results show that the sample is composed of porous particles with an average pore size of 200 nm. In addition, the oxidation resistance of the as-obtained Cr 23 C 6 sample was studied by thermogravimetric analyzer. The resource utilization of waste plastic can solve the problems of energy shortage and environment pollution simultaneously to achieve sustainable development.