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Thermal Behavior Analysis of Bis(2-hydroxyethyl) Terephthalate for Recovery from Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycolysis
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Thermal analysis of the PET glycolysis monomer BHET revealed that it polymerizes back to PET above 120°C, while the presence of ethylene glycol inhibits this reaction, informing purification strategies for chemical PET recycling. This is relevant to microplastic pollution research because improving the efficiency of PET chemical recycling reduces the amount of PET plastic waste that degrades into microplastics in the environment.
In recent years, sustainability and the concept of a circular economy have grown in importance within almost all industrial sectors. Especially in the chemical industry, recycling of polymer waste streams has become an important pathway to avoid plastic waste being landfilled or incinerated. Additionally, traditional carbon sources, such as fossil fuels, can be substituted with streams of recycled polymer. For example, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is utilized in plastic bottles and textiles, may be recycled via glycolysis. This depolymerization yields the monomer bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET). This study focuses on the thermal behavior and stability of BHET, both in pure form as well as in the presence of ethylene glycol (EG), as it results from PET glycolysis. For this, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), and thermogravimetry (TG) were utilized. The results exhibited pure BHET polymerizing to PET at temperatures above 120 °C, while further increasing temperatures increased the reaction kinetics. Additionally, no reaction was observed in BHET/EG mixtures at any temperature investigated, which can be attributed to the presence of EG shifting the equilibrium of the reaction towards the BHET, thus inhibiting polymerization. Based on these results and the determined BHET/EG (solubility) phase diagram, potential purification strategies based on crystallization are proposed.
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This review examines PET plastic's lifecycle and recycling strategies within circular economy frameworks, focusing on heterogeneous catalytic glycolysis as a promising tertiary recycling method. Catalytic glycolysis achieves monomer yields above 90% in 20–60 minutes with reusable catalysts, making it well-suited for large-scale industrial PET waste valorization.
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Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) were engineered as stable, recyclable catalysts to convert waste PET into bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET), a key monomer for chemical recycling. The MOF catalysts achieved high conversion efficiency and could be reused multiple times without significant loss of activity, improving the economics of PET glycolysis. This approach represents a promising route toward scalable, circular recycling of polyester plastics.
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