Sub- and supercritical glycolysis of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) into the monomer bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET) | Health & Environmental Research Online (HERO)

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Citation
Tags

HERO ID

1118987

Reference Type

Journal Article

Title

Sub- and supercritical glycolysis of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) into the monomer bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET)

Author(s)

Imran, M; Kim, BK; Han, M; Cho, BG; Kim, DH

Year

2010

Is Peer Reviewed?

Journal

Polymer Degradation and Stability
ISSN: 0141-3910

Volume

Issue

Page Numbers

1686-1693

DOI

10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2010.05.026

Web of Science Id

WOS:000281369500031

Abstract

Sub- and supercritical glycolysis of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) with ethylene glycol (EG) to bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET) was investigated for the purpose of developing a PET recycling process. Supercritical glycolysis was carried out at 450 degrees C and 15.3 MPa while subcritical glycolysis was carried out at 350 degrees C and 2.49 MPa or at 300 degrees C and 1.1 MPa. High yields (gt; 90%) of the monomer BHET were obtained in both super- and subcritical cases. For the same PET/EG weight ratio of about 0.06, the optimum reaction time was 30 min for supercritical glycolysis and 75 and 120 min for two cases of subcritical glycolysis. GPC, RP-HPLC, (1)H NMR and (13)C NMR, and DSC were used to characterize the polymer and reaction products. Supercritical glycolysis will be suitable to a process requiring a high throughput due to its short reaction time. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords

PET; Supercritical; Subcritical; Glycolysis; Plastics recycling