Shuying Tian

1 Introduction The global plastic waste crisis, driven predominantly by the accumulation of polyethylene (PE), demands advanced catalytic technologies that can efficiently convert waste polymers into valuable fuels and chemicals [1-3]. While thermal pyrolysis offers a route to break down plastics, it often yields a broad and uncontrollable product distribution, requiring a high energy input [4].

Transforming polystyrene wastes to aromatic products near ambient temperature with aluminium chloride Against global resource scarcity and environmental crises, recycling large quantities of discarded polyolefin waste presents an urgent challenge for humanity. However, the thermal degradation of polyolefin, which typically requires high temperatures to cleave the carbon-carbon (C–C) bonds, has been hindered by energy limitations.