Metal-Containing Ionic Liquids: Highly Effective Catalysts for Degradation of Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate)

Abstract

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) waste from local market was depolymerized by ethylene glycol (EG) in the presence of metal-containing ionic liquids, and the qualitative analysis showed that the bis(hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET) was the main product in this process. Compared with other metal-containing ionic liquids, [Bmim]ZnCl3 was considered the best catalyst in the glycolysis of PET. When the reaction temperature was 180°C, the conversion of PET reached 97.9% and the BHET was yielded to 83.3% within 5 h. At the same time, [Bmim]ZnCl3 could be reused for six times without obvious decrease in the yield of BHET. Additional, the effects of waste PET’s source and size were investigated.