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From Traditional Depolymerization to Value-Added Upgrading: Upcycling of PET Fibers with Sustainable Chemistry and Renewable Energy

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Abstract

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is not only a major packaging plastic but also the dominant polyester used in fibers and textiles, including apparel, carpets, nonwovens, filtration media, and industrial fabrics. The growing accumulation of post-consumer PET bottles and textiles poses severe challenges to conventional recycling and accelerates the release of fibrous microplastics. Upcycling PET fibers into value-added chemicals, fuels, and functional materials therefore offers an important route toward sustainable fiber circularity. This work focuses on the mechanistic underpinnings of sustainable chemical strategies and the successful integration of renewable energy sources for converting PET into high-value chemicals. We first outline the fundamental cleavage chemistry of the PET ester bond. Subsequently, exciting progress in thermocatalysis, electrocatalysis, and photocatalysis is critically examined in detail, combining the PET waste transformation with sustainable chemistry and renewable energy. Next, the existing challenges and future perspectives are featured, aiming to advance molecular-level understanding and guide the design of closed-loop circular chemical processes. We envision a sustainable future where discarded plastics and fibers evolve from being an ecological concern to becoming a valuable chemical resource within the circular economy.

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Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

Z. Huang thanks the support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 52273283). Z. Huang and J. Yang acknowledge the support from the State Key Laboratory of Advanced Fiber Materials. J. Zhang acknowledges the support from the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (grant No. CUSF-DH-T-2025062). J. Chen acknowledges the National Natural Science Foundation of China (22505035) and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2024M760510). T. Chen acknowledges the support from the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (grant No. CUSF-DH-D-2025004).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Advanced Fiber Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, China

    Jiaqi Zhang, Chenyang Wang, Junliang Chen, Zhicheng Tan, Tingting Chen, Chengjin Chen, Chen’an Zhou, Can Yue, Zhongjie Huang & Jianping Yang

  2. Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Hengyue Xu

  3. Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials, and State Key Laboratory of Porous Materials for Separation and Conversion, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China

    Junliang Chen

Authors
  1. Jiaqi Zhang
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  2. Chenyang Wang
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  3. Junliang Chen
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  4. Zhicheng Tan
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  5. Hengyue Xu
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  6. Tingting Chen
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  7. Chengjin Chen
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  8. Chen’an Zhou
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  9. Can Yue
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  10. Zhongjie Huang
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  11. Jianping Yang
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Contributions

Conceptualization, Z.H. and J.Y.; project administration, Z.H. and J.Y.; funding acquisition, Z.H., J.Y., J.Z., J.C. and T.C.; investigation, J.Z., C.W., J.C., Z.T., H.X., T.C., C.C., C.Z., C.Y.; writing—original draft preparation, J.Z., C.W., J.C., H.X., and Z.H.; All authors have discussed the results and revised the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Zhongjie Huang or Jianping Yang.

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Zhang, J., Wang, C., Chen, J. et al. From Traditional Depolymerization to Value-Added Upgrading: Upcycling of PET Fibers with Sustainable Chemistry and Renewable Energy. Adv. Fiber Mater. (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42765-026-00779-y

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  1. Zhicheng Tan View author profile
  2. Hengyue Xu View author profile
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