Abstract
In this study, novel and easily recyclable catalysts were prepared from waste batteries for efficient glycolysis and decolorization of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) to obtain bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET). At 190 °C and 5 h, the PET conversion and BHET yield reach 89.7 and 77.7%, respectively, which are comparable to the values obtained for the commonly used catalyst zinc acetate. Species generated from the reaction between ethylene glycol (EG) and zinc plates (e.g., Zn-glycolate, ZnO, and other metal species on zinc plates) demonstrate excellent catalytic performance. Furthermore, dye molecules released from several commercial-colored PET bottles during glycolysis can be degraded to colorless molecules using zinc plates, thereby facilitating BHET purification. The exposed zero-valent zinc from the zinc plates in EG is responsible for degrading the dye molecules. Finally, the scaled-up PET glycolysis process is conceptually designed using Aspen Plus software. The simulation results suggest that reducing the energy requirement in distillation is necessary for further improvement.
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