Polyethylene terephthalate
(PET) as one of the most produced plastics
contributes to global waste pollution. Upcycling PET into value-added
products therefore is of environmental and economic interest. Terephthalic
acid (TPA), the monomer of PET, is a common linker for metal–organic
framework (MOF) synthesis; thus, PET-to-MOF upcycling raises much
research attention. However, conventional PET-to-MOF upcycling often
requires PET depolymerization with strong acids or bases and high
temperatures, which can lead to environmental and energy penalties.
As an alternative, PETase offers a sustainable approach to depolymerizing
PET under mesophilic and mild pH conditions. Here we report UiO-66,
MOF-5, and MIL-101 syntheses using enzymatically recycled TPA as linkers.
The enzymatically recycled TPA demonstrated low impurity, and the
obtained MOFs possessed comparable crystallinity, thermal stability,
and surface area. These results reveal the feasibility of MOF synthesis
by using enzymatically recycled PET.