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Zinc Catalysts: Unlocking the Sustainable Transformation of Post-Consumer PET Waste through Chemical Recycling

Asian Journal of Chemistry 2023 3 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
ANBARASU MURUGAN, V. N. Viswanathan, D. Ravikumar, Vajiravelu Sivamurugan

Summary

This review examines zinc-catalyzed depolymerization of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) as a sustainable approach to post-consumer plastic waste chemical recycling, covering methods including glycolysis, aminolysis, hydrolysis, and alcoholysis. The review highlights the role of zinc catalysts in enabling simpler, more adaptable depolymerization processes for PET reclamation.

Polymers

This review article focuses on the reclamation of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste accomplished through zinc catalyzed depolymerization. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is a polyester that can be depolymerized in a variety of ways, including hydrolysis, alcoholysis, ammonolysis and aminolysis. Among these methods, widely employed methods are glycolysis and aminolysis due to their simplicity and adaptability in synthetic processes. The review explores the role of zinc catalysts in the PET depolymerization, with an emphasis on the latest advancements in this field. Zinc catalysts, known for their Lewis acidic nature, are capable of activating ester bonds using ionic liquids, nanoparticles, complexes, salts, porous materials and nanocomposites. Both homogeneous and heterogeneous zinc catalysts are discussed briefly in this comprehensive review.

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