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Degradation of PET-bottles to monohydroxyethyl terephthalate (MHT) using ethylene glycol and hydrotalcite

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Abstract

The degradation of Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles has been successfully achieved using hydrotalcite as catalyst and ethylene glycol (EG) as solvent. The reaction was carried out at boiling point of ethylene glycol (EG) (198 °C) and degradation was completed in 2 hrs. Monohydroxyethyl terephthalate (MHT) formed has been characterized by GC-MS, 1 H-NMR, 13C-NMR, FT-IR, X-ray diffractometeric and thermo gravimetric analysis. A study on the recycling of the solvent and catalyst shows that solvent and catalyst could be used repeatedly. The influences of experimental parameters such as the effect of temperature and time, role of solvent and catalyst have also been studied. A mechanism of the degradation of plastic bottle with hydrotalcite has been proposed. GC-MS technique shows that the purity of synthesized monohydroxyehyl terephthalate (MHT) (C10H10O5) and recycled ethylene glycol was 99 %.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to express their thanks to the Santosh Kumar bhardwaj, Shimadzu Pvt. Ltd., Prof. S. K. Srivastava, S.O.S Chemistry, Jiwaji University and Director, Sophisticticated Analytical Instrumentation Facility, Punjab University, Chandigarh in carrying out the spectral analysis of the compound.

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  1. Department of Industrial Chemistry, Jiwaji University, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, 474011, India

    Vivek Sharma, Priyanka Shrivastava & D. D. Agarwal

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  1. Vivek Sharma
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  2. Priyanka Shrivastava
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  3. D. D. Agarwal
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Correspondence to Vivek Sharma.

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Sharma, V., Shrivastava, P. & Agarwal, D.D. Degradation of PET-bottles to monohydroxyethyl terephthalate (MHT) using ethylene glycol and hydrotalcite. J Polym Res 22, 241 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-015-0884-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-015-0884-2

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