ACS Publications. Most Trusted. Most Cited. Most Read
My Activity
CONTENT TYPES

Figure 1Loading Img
RETURN TO ISSUEPREVResearch ArticleNEXT

Fast, High Monomer Yield from Post-consumer Polyethylene Terephthalate via Combined Microwave and Deep Eutectic Solvent Hydrolytic Depolymerization

  • Olivia A. Attallah*
    Olivia A. Attallah
    Materials Research Institute, Technological University of the Shannon, Midlands Midwest, Athlone N37 HD68, Ireland
    Pharmaceutical Chemistry Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Heliopolis University, Cairo - Belbeis Desert Road, El Salam, Cairo 11777, Egypt
    *Email: [email protected]
  • Arno Janssens
    Arno Janssens
    Institut Meurice, Haute École Lucia de Brouckère, Avenue Emile Gryson 1, 1070 Bruxelles, Belgium
  • Muhammad Azeem
    Muhammad Azeem
    Materials Research Institute, Technological University of the Shannon, Midlands Midwest, Athlone N37 HD68, Ireland
  • , and 
  • Margaret Brennan Fournet
    Margaret Brennan Fournet
    Materials Research Institute, Technological University of the Shannon, Midlands Midwest, Athlone N37 HD68, Ireland
Cite this: ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2021, 9, 50, 17174–17185
Publication Date (Web):December 10, 2021
https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c07159
Copyright © 2021 American Chemical Society

    Article Views

    2011

    Altmetric

    -

    Citations

    LEARN ABOUT THESE METRICS
    Read OnlinePDF (3 MB)
    Supporting Info (1)»

    Abstract

    Abstract Image

    Efficient low carbon foot print methods are critical to achieving circularity for the dominant post-consumer plastic polyethylene terephthalate (PET). In a strong sustainability advancement over previous technologies, depolymerization of waste PET bottles was performed using a dissolution/degradation approach optimized in accordance with polymer mechanical parameter inter-relationships. A dual functioning deep eutectic solvent (DES), comprising m-cresol and choline chloride, served as both the solubilizing and catalyzing agent for alkaline hydrolysis of PET using high energy efficiency microwave (MW) irradiation. The PET depolymerization process was optimized using Box–Behnken design while tailoring the DES volume, concentration of the depolymerizing agent (sodium hydroxide), and MW irradiation time as independent variables. The percentage PET weight loss as high as 84% was obtained using 15 mL of DES containing 10% (w/v) NaOH under 90 s MW irradiation. Simple, cost-effective purification steps were afforded by the DES’s advantageous physicochemical nature and were implemented to provide the terephthalic acid (TPA) monomer with acceptable yield. Validation of the PET depolymerization and identification of obtained monomers were carried out by a range of characterization techniques including FTIR, NMR, DSC, and HPLC. Post-consumer PET bottle depolymerization was evaluated, and a 91.55% TPA monomer yield ready for repolymerization as virgin PET demonstrates the high potential market application of this low energy, low carbon solvent virgin to virgin approach to PET circularity.

    Supporting Information

    ARTICLE SECTIONS
    Jump To

    The Supporting Information is available free of charge at https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c07159.

    • Calibration curve for TPA quantification and 3D surface plots of response surface analysis of BBD (PDF)

    Terms & Conditions

    Most electronic Supporting Information files are available without a subscription to ACS Web Editions. Such files may be downloaded by article for research use (if there is a public use license linked to the relevant article, that license may permit other uses). Permission may be obtained from ACS for other uses through requests via the RightsLink permission system: http://pubs.acs.org/page/copyright/permissions.html.

    Cited By

    This article is cited by 9 publications.

    1. Sara E. Skrabalak (Editor-in-Chief). 35 Voices from Chemistry of Materials: Sustainability as Inspiration for the Next Generation of Talent. Chemistry of Materials 2023, 35 (12) , 4581-4586. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.3c01340
    2. Jing Tang, Xiangshuai Meng, Xiujie Cheng, Qingqing Zhu, Dongxia Yan, YuJin Zhang, Xingmei Lu, Chunyan Shi, Xiaomin Liu. Mechanistic Insights of Cosolvent Efficient Enhancement of PET Methanol Alcohololysis. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 2023, 62 (12) , 4917-4927. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.iecr.2c04419
    3. Amruta Kulkarni, Greg Quintens, Louis M. Pitet. Trends in Polyester Upcycling for Diversifying a Problematic Waste Stream. Macromolecules 2023, 56 (5) , 1747-1758. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.2c02054
    4. Sathiyaraj Subramaniyan, Nasim Najjarzadeh, Sudarsana Reddy Vanga, Anna Liguori, Per-Olof Syrén, Minna Hakkarainen. Designed for Circularity: Chemically Recyclable and Enzymatically Degradable Biorenewable Schiff Base Polyester-Imines. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering 2023, 11 (8) , 3451-3465. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.2c06935
    5. Marco Rollo, Francesca Raffi, Elisa Rossi, Matteo Tiecco, Elisa Martinelli, Gianluca Ciancaleoni. Depolymerization of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) under mild conditions by Lewis/Brønsted acidic deep eutectic solvents. Chemical Engineering Journal 2023, 456 , 141092. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2022.141092
    6. Yanyan Li, Hongling Yi, Mengjuan Li, Mingqiao Ge, Donggang Yao. Synchronous degradation and decolorization of colored poly(ethylene terephthalate) fabrics for the synthesis of high purity terephthalic acid. Journal of Cleaner Production 2022, 366 , 132985. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.132985
    7. Muhammad Azeem, Margaret Brennan Fournet, Olivia A. Attallah. Ultrafast 99% Polyethylene terephthalate depolymerization into value added monomers using sequential glycolysis-hydrolysis under microwave irradiation. Arabian Journal of Chemistry 2022, 15 (7) , 103903. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arabjc.2022.103903
    8. Beatriz Agostinho, Armando J. D. Silvestre, Andreia F. Sousa. From PEF to rPEF: disclosing the potential of deep eutectic solvents in continuous de-/re-polymerization recycling of biobased polyesters. Green Chemistry 2022, 24 (8) , 3115-3119. https://doi.org/10.1039/D2GC00074A
    9. Olivia A. Attallah, Muhammad Azeem, Efstratios Nikolaivits, Evangelos Topakas, Margaret Brennan Fournet. Progressing Ultragreen, Energy-Efficient Biobased Depolymerization of Poly(ethylene terephthalate) via Microwave-Assisted Green Deep Eutectic Solvent and Enzymatic Treatment. Polymers 2022, 14 (1) , 109. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14010109

    Pair your accounts.

    Export articles to Mendeley

    Get article recommendations from ACS based on references in your Mendeley library.

    Pair your accounts.

    Export articles to Mendeley

    Get article recommendations from ACS based on references in your Mendeley library.

    You’ve supercharged your research process with ACS and Mendeley!

    STEP 1:
    Click to create an ACS ID

    Please note: If you switch to a different device, you may be asked to login again with only your ACS ID.

    Please note: If you switch to a different device, you may be asked to login again with only your ACS ID.

    Please note: If you switch to a different device, you may be asked to login again with only your ACS ID.

    MENDELEY PAIRING EXPIRED
    Your Mendeley pairing has expired. Please reconnect