Study of Alcoholysis of Waste Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate) to Produce Plasticizer

Due to its excellent features, poly(ethylene terephthalate)(PET) as the mostimportant thermoplastic polyester, has been widely used in the manufacture andhumans’ life. Though the PET makes a positive contribution to the development ofsociety, the increase of waste PET brought tremendous pressure to the environment,resulting in a huge waste of resources. Therefore, it is necessary to develop aneffective and environmentally friendly recycling technology. Two methods werestudied the alcoholysis of PET to produce plasticizer of DOTP.The first is alcoholysis of PET in the super-and sub-critical isooctyl alcohol(2-EH). Super-and sub-critical fluid, which is widely used in polymer degradation,shows its high efficiency and environmental benign. The hydrothermal diamond anvilcell (HDAC), which can create high temperature and high pressure, was employed toin situ observation. The result shows the phase change and degradation process ofPET in high temperature and pressure conditions. The result shows that PET begins tomelt at about246.5℃, and then quickly degrades to dissolve in2-EH.