Polyethylene Terephthalate Resin Research Articles

CNT modified chopped ultra-thin CF/PET tapes reinforced PET thermoplastic composite laminates with elevated interfacial properties and ultra-low porosity

Carbon fiber (CF) reinforced thermoplastic polyethylene terephthalate (PET) laminate composites with light weight, high strength, excellent damage tolerance, and recyclability have garnered increasing attention. However, the weak interface between inert CF and PET resin, as well as the difficulty of impregnating the considerably high melt viscosity of PET matrix into the CF bundles, have impeded further development of the CF/PET composites. To settle the challenge, the chopped ultra-thin CF tapes (thickness of 40 μm and length of 30 mm) reinforced PET composite laminates were prepared by mechanical spreading technology, following with random stacking and molding technology via the plasma treatment and PET/carbon nanotubes (CNT) sizing. As the results, the optimal interlaminar shear strength (ILSS), tensile strength, and Young's modulus of the chopped ultra-thin CF tapes reinforced PET composites (with 1.0 wt% CNT) achieved 42.4 MPa, 780.9 MPa, and 47.8 GPa, which increased by 41.9 %, 40.7 %, and 68.9 %, respectively, compared to unmodified CF/PET composites. Especially, the porosity of the composites reached 0.68 %, decreased by 84.3 %. Therefore, combining the easy infiltrability of chopped ultra-thin CF tapes technology and the multiscale interfacial reinforced strategy (plasma treatment and PET/CNT sizing) is an effective way to reduce the porosity and enhance the mechanical properties of the thermoplastic composites.

Global Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Plastic Supply Chain Resource Metabolism Efficiency and Carbon Emissions Co-Reduction Strategies

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is widely used as a primary plastic packaging material in the global socio-economic system. However, research on the metabolic characteristics of the PET industry across different countries, particularly regarding the entire life cycle supply chain of PET, remains insufficient, significantly hindering progress in addressing plastic pollution worldwide. This study employs the Life Cycle Assessment-Material Flow Analysis (LCA-MFA) method to comprehensively analyze the environmental impacts of PET plastics, with a focus on the processes from production to disposal in 12 regions (covering 41 countries) in 2020. By constructing 13 scenarios and analyzing the development trajectory of PET plastics from 2020 to 2030, this study provides scientific evidence and specific strategies for waste reduction and emission reduction measures in the PET industry. Overall, in 2020, the 12 regions (41 countries) consumed 7297.7 kilotons (kt) of virgin PET resin and 1189.4 kt of recycled PET resin; 23% of plastic waste was manufactured into recycled PET materials, 42% went to landfills, and 35% was incinerated. In 2020, the entire PET plastic supply chain emitted approximately 534.6 million tons (Mt) of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, with production emissions accounting for 46.1%, manufacturing stage emissions accounting for 44.7%, and waste treatment stage emissions accounting for 9.2%. Research indicates that under a scenario of controlled demand, resource efficiency improvement and emission reduction are the most effective, potentially reducing carbon emissions by up to 40%.

Life cycle assessment and circularity of polyethylene terephthalate bottles via closed and open loop recycling

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycling is considered as one of the key approaches to achieving the circular economy (CE) of plastic waste. Bottle-to-Bottle and Bottle-to-Fiber recycling were assessed using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Material Circularity Indicator (MCI). Three allocation methods (i.e., substitution, recycled content, and economic allocation) were used to deal with the recycling system. Producing bottle-grade PET resin and polyester fiber from PET bottle waste can reduce environmental impacts for most midpoint impact categories (e.g., 60% greenhouse gas emissions reduction and 85% fossil resource scarcity reduction). At the endpoint level, the damages to resources, ecosystem quality, and human health of the recycled PET bottles derived from Bottle-to-Bottle recycling were less than virgin PET bottles when using the substitution and recycled content methods. When using the economic allocation method, the final LCA findings highly depended on the recycled content used to produce the PET bottles. On the other hand, regardless of the allocation method used, recycled polyester fiber derived from Bottle-to-Fiber recycling caused less environmental damages than virgin polyester fiber. The MCI scores of Bottle-to-Bottle recycling in the baseline scenarios range between 0.20 and 0.31, whereas the MCI scores of the expected scenario in the future show a higher level of material circularity (0.55–0.60) as a result of 100% collection rate for recycling of PET bottles and the use of recycled PET as a feedstock. Therefore, higher collection rates and recycled content support Bottle-to-Bottle recycling. On the other hand, the MCI score of Bottle-to-Fiber recycling in the baseline scenario is 0.52. This high score resulted from the use of 100% recycled PET as a feedstock of polyester fiber. Recycling polyester fiber at the end-of-life could further increase the MCI to almost 0.7. However, to keep the materials at their highest quality and value, Bottle-to-Bottle recycling should be the preferred option.

Responses of gut microbiomes to commercial polyester polymer biodegradation in Tenebrio molitor Larvae

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is a mass-produced fossil-based plastic polymer that contributes to catastrophic levels of plastic pollution. Here we demonstrated that Tenebrio molitor (mealworms) was capable of rapidly biodegrading two commercial PET resins (microplastics) with respective weight-average molecular weight (Mw) of 39.33 and 29.43 kDa and crystallinity of 22.8 ± 3.06% and 18 ± 2.25%, resulting in an average mass reduction of 71.03% and 73.28% after passage of their digestive tract, and respective decrease by 9.22% and 11.36% in Mw of residual PET polymer in egested frass. Sequencing of 16 S rRNA gene amplicons of gut microbial communities showed that dominant bacterial genera were enriched and associated with PET degradation. Also, PICRUSt prediction exhibited that oxidases (monooxygenases and dioxygenases), hydrolases (cutinase, carboxylesterase and chitinase), and PET metabolic enzymes, and chemotaxis related functions were up-regulated in the PET-fed larvae. Additionally, metabolite analyses revealed that PET uptake caused alterations of stress response and plastic degradation related pathways, and lipid metabolism pathways in the T. molitor larvae could be reprogrammed when the larvae fed on PET. This study provides new insights into gut microbial community adaptation to PET diet under nutritional stress (especially nitrogen deficiency) and its contribution to PET degradation.

Life cycle assessment of eco-brick production using PET particle reinforced epoxy resin composites

The process of urbanisation contributes to the growth of waste generation and causes environmental pollution. One of the most common plastic waste is polyethylene terephthalate (PET). This plastic waste is often used as mixed material in construction. The use of life-cycle assessment (LCA) is a possible tool to assess the sustainability of a product in the long term. After analysing the latest literature, it was found that the study of PET waste in building materials is one of the sustainable alternatives for waste reduction. This research contributes to the improvement of sustainability in alternative building materials through LCA. A gate-to-gate approach is adopted in this research. LCA Calculations for the production of eco-bricks were carried out in accordance with ISO 14044. GaBi software was used to identify and quantify impacts within the system boundaries. The calculations were based on the EDIP 2003 method for assessing impacts. The results show that the use of epoxy resin and PET as raw materials for eco-tiles has an impact on ozone formation (OF) of 118 m2 UES*ppm*hours, which is due to the use of epoxy resin chemicals as adhesives in the production of eco-bricks. Eco-bricks made of PET and epoxy resin have better compressive strength than other materials. The addition of epoxy resin adhesive can increase the compressive strength of the eco-bricks by 50%. Despite the advantages of using epoxy resin and PET in eco-bricks, there are many uncertainties about their environmental impact. It can be concluded that the use of epoxy resin and PET particles in the production of eco-bricks does not pose excessive environmental risks and their use as alternative mixtures for the production of eco-bricks does not lead to a significant reduction in the environmental profile.

Supplier Assessment in PET Recycle for The Beverage Industry

The beverage Industry is a company that is engaged in the production of mineral water in Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottles. PET bottle is the primary material used in the beverage industry. Therefore, the use of PET resin as bottle material is unavoidable. On the other hand, public awareness about the environment is getting bigger. Seeing these conditions, the company decided to use recycled pet resin to solve this problem. Currently, the company has three candidates for recycle PET suppliers, as alternative suppliers to be selected. The company wants to know which suppliers are eligible to be selected and which suppliers can be eliminated so that this project can run successfully. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method will be used in this study to assist in making research weights. Further, a supplier assessment and evaluation system will be made to decide which supplier to select.

Effect of PET Resin as Cement Substitute on Properties of Cement Mortar Subjected to Different During Conditions

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) has many advantageous properties required for the packaging industry. However, the safe disposal of PET waste is an environmental challenge. The present study investigates the feasibility of using PET resin prepared through glycolysis in polypropylene glycol (20:80 and 30:70 PET-to-glycol ratios) as a replacement for cement (5%, 10%, and 15%) in cement mortar. The effect of PET resin with melamine-formaldehyde as a hardener replacement on the consistency, setting time, soundness, compressive strength, tensile strength, and abrasion resistance was experimentally studied at two different curing conditions viz. under water curing and oven-dry curing. Findings of the present investigation infer that the compressive, tensile strength, and abrasion resistance improves upon oven-dry curing. The study concludes that the use of PET resins improves the attributes of cement mortar and at the same time provides an environmentally friendly way to dispose of the PET waste.

Employing copper slag and pet polymer in self-compacting concrete

Plastic is the most advanced material of 21st century. Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) is a type of plastic that is commonly used for packaging due to the numerous benefits it offers. PET waste decomposes slowly and can take several years to completely decompose, posing a problem for waste management. Recycling PET and using it as a binder material in concrete will be one of the most effective waste management techniques. It would result in significant reductions in cement consumption. Copper slag is a waste product produced by the copper industry as a byproduct of copper extraction. The use of copper slag and PET bottles in concrete would be extremely beneficial to the environment. Infrastructure expansion has increased demand for various types of concrete, including self-compacted concrete. PET bottles were glycolyzed in polypropylene glycol to produce PET resin. This resin was used to replacement of cement by 5%, 10%, and 15% based on the mass of the cement. Copper slag is used to replace fine aggregate in the following proportions: 20%, 40%, 60%, and 80%. The SCC of M−35 was produced with PET rein and copper slag. Slump flow, L-box, and V funnel were used to investigate flow of SCC along with Harden properties. The addition of PET resin shows the improvement in all strength parameter at 1 day curing. The 60% addition of copper slag observed to be beneficiary and further more addition of copper slag reduces the strength of SCC. After allowing the material to cure for 28 days, a permeability test was performed and 60% of copper slag and 15% PET resin content shows excellent water resistance. When all of the combinations and strengths were considered, the optimal, sustainable, and cost-effective combination was discovered to be one that contained 15% PET resin and 60% copper slag.11corresponding author, Satish M Waysal, satish.waysal@gmail.com

Distribution and controlling factors of microplastics in surface sediments of typical deep-sea geomorphological units in the northern South China Sea

Marine microplastics are widely distributed in deep-sea sedimentary environments and are altering sediment compositions and ecological conditions on the seafloor. However, the relation between the distribution of microplastics in deep-sea sediments and the sedimentary dynamic conditions is poorly understood. In this study, we collected surface sediments from some typical geomorphological units (sand dune, sediment drift, and submarine canyon channel/levee) in the northern South China Sea to study composition and distribution of the deep-sea microplastics and their controlling factors. The results show that the microplastic abundance in surface sediments ranges from 19 to 347 p·kg–1, and the identified microplastics consist of 10 types, including dominant polycarbonate (29%), polyethylene (27%), polyester fiber (16%), polyvinyl chloride (13%), and polypropylene (7%), and minor polyethylene terephthalate resin, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, epoxy resin, hydrocarbon resin, and acrylic. The source analysis shows that the deep-sea microplastics may be influenced by riverine inputs from Taiwan and South China. In addition, the microplastic spatial distribution shows that the sand dune and canyon channel contain the highest abundances (136–347 p·kg–1) and more types (4–6 types) of microplastics, which are dominated by relatively high-density polycarbonate or polyvinyl chloride. The canyon levee contains the lowest abundances (19–132 p·kg–1) and less types (1–3 types) of microplastics, which are dominated by relatively low-density polyester fiber or polyethylene. Nevertheless, the microplastic composition of the sediment drift is between those of the canyon channel and the canyon levee. The abundance and polymer type (density) of microplastics all increase with the increased mean grain size of detrital sediments, which represents the progressively enhanced intensity of sedimentary dynamic conditions. We therefore infer that the sedimentary dynamic conditions control the composition and distribution of microplastics in the deep-sea sediments. This study highlights that some deep-sea environments with stronger sedimentary dynamic conditions may accumulate more microplastics, which is of great significance for evaluating the storage and ecological damage of deep-sea microplastics.

Effect of functional filler morphology on the crystallization behavior and thermal conductivity of PET resin: A comparative study of three different shapes of BN as heterogeneous nucleating agents

Functional fillers play a vital role in thermally conductive polymer-based composites. However, little attention has been paid to how functional fillers with the same composition but different morphologies affect the crystallinity of the matrix and the final thermal conductivity of polymeric composites. In this work, two-dimensional boron nitride nanosheet (2-D BNNS), one-dimensional boron nitride whisker (1-D BNW) and one-dimensional boron nitride nanotube (1-D BNNT) acting as both nucleating agents and thermally conductive fillers were melt-mixed with Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin, respectively, and the effects of filler morphology on the crystallization behavior of PET and thermal conductivity of the PET/BN composites were investigated and compared. Results indicate that three kinds of BN all play a better heterogeneous nucleation role in crystallization of PET, which significantly accelerates the crystallization rate and improves the crystallinity of PET, but the modifying effect is not the same. The thermal conductivity of PET is improved by increasing the crystallinity of the polymer with a very low content of 0.5 wt% of BN in PET. The BNNT with regular shape and minimum size achieves the best effect in nucleation and improvement of thermal conductivity, followed by BNW and BNNS. Experimental fact illustrates that the functional fillers with the same composition but different shapes can produce different modification effects on both crystallinity of matrix and the final thermal conductivity of the polymeric composites.

Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Water and Fossil-Fuel Consumptions for Polyethylene Furanoate and Its Coproducts from Wheat Straw

Polyethylene furanoate (PEF) is a bioplastic that can potentially replace its fossil-fuel counterpart, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A life-cycle GHG, water, and fossil-fuel consumption analysis is conducted for a potential bioplastic alternative for a fossil-based PET resin, or PEF on a kg-resin basis. PEF is assumed to be produced from a lignocellulosic feedstock (i.e., wheat straw) via furanics conversion reactions through three different pathways. The system boundary includes cradle-to-gate processes including feedstock farming, pretreatment, hydrolysis, conversion into furanics, recovery, polymerization into PEF, and on-site combined heat and power (CHP) generation. While electricity export from the CHP plant is assumed to displace the U. S. grid electricity, other coproducts of PEF are assumed to distribute the emissions and energy burdens on a mass basis. The results showed that all three PEF routes achieved significant GHG reduction relative to its fossil-based counterpart (i.e., PET): 134, 139, and 163% reduction for routes 1, 2, and 3, respectively. While fossil-fuel consumptions for all three pathways were also significantly reduced (i.e., 79, 57, and 53% reduction for routes 1, 2, and 3), water consumptions for routes 1 and 2 were increased by 168 and 79%, respectively, while route 3 only achieved reduction (by 77%) relative to fossil-PET. Different sensitivity analyses were conducted, and the results showed that coproduct allocation methods and wheat straw management assumption were the most important. A preliminary analysis on the farmland area and cost required to reduce unit mass of GHGs using PEF to replace PET is also conducted, showing a promising result for both metrics: (i) 3 metric tons of GHGs reduced/ha for all three PEF pathways and (ii) affordable cost of GHG abatement for routes 1 and 2, while route 3 even generated profits.

Recycling of Plastics in the United States: Plastic Material Flows and Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Recycling Processes.

As efforts are made toward establishing a circular economy that engages in activities that maintain resources at their highest values for as long as possible, an important aspect is understanding the systems which allow recycling to occur. In this article a common plastic, polyethylene terephthalate, i.e., PET or plastic #1, has been studied because it is recycled at relatively high rates in the U.S. as compared to other plastics. A material flow analysis is described for PET resin showing materials collected, reclaimed for flake, and converted into items with recycled content. Imports/exports, reclaimer residue, and disposal with mismanaged waste are all shown for U.S. flows of PET. Barriers to recycling PET exist in the collecting, sorting, reclaiming, and converting steps, and this article describes them, offers some solutions, and suggests some research that chemists and engineers could focus on to improve the systems. This effort also models sorting at material recovery facilities (MRF) and reclaimers, with detailed descriptions of the material streams involved, to characterize the resource use and emissions from these operations that are key processes in the recycling system. Example results include greenhouse gas intensities of 8.58 kg CO2 equiv per ton of MRF feed and 103.7 kg CO2 equiv per ton of reclaimer PET bale feed. The results can be used in system analyses for various scenarios and as inputs in economic input-output and life cycle assessments.

Effect of bubbles at interface on bonding mechanism between titanium and PET resin

The dissimilar material bonded pure titanium (Ti) to polyethylene terephthalate (PET) was fabricated by applying a suitable pressure at the elevated temperature. When the bonding temperature increased up to near a melting point of PET, a lot of bubbles were generated at the bonding interface between both materials due to the gas components originated from ethylene glycol contained in PET, and the volume expansion of these bubbles caused the pressure effect at the interfaces, resulting in the acceleration of chemical bonding behavior such as Ti-C bonding formation. It was also clarified that the rapid cooling condition after the bonding process was effective to form the spherical bubbles individually dispersed at the interfaces and to decrease the number of these bubbles. According to the above analysis results, the optimum joining conditions successfully improved the bonding strength of Ti-PET dissimilar materials.

Evaluation of effectiveness of palm oil fuel ash as green filler and methyl methacrylate as additive in recycled PET resin polymer composite

A study was conducted to reduce the solid waste problem by developing the mortar composite from recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and palm oil fuel ash (POFA). Styrene in recycled PET resin is partially replaced by 0–40 wt% methyl methacrylate (MMA). The uncured and cured properties of the nine different resin compositions were evaluated. Furthermore, the resin was optimized through a linear regression analysis depending upon test results, and the optimized resin was used as a binder in a polymer mortar (PM). The PM mixtures were prepared with varying content of optimized resin (10%, 12%, 14%), POFA filler(16%, 18%, 20%), and silica sand (Zones I, II, III). The Taguchi and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to optimize the PM mixes based on mechanical properties. Results showthat the modification of PET resin by MMA decreases viscosity and temperature and increases gel time, leading to improved mixing and mechanical properties of UP:styrene composition. Increasing the resin content from 10% to 14% and POFA filler content from 16% to 20%, the compressive, tensile, and bond strength of PM mixes increases by 19.15%, 75%, 180%, respectively. Based on SEM, it was found that increasing the resin content, POFA content, and finer sand size reduces porosity, improves adhesion between particles, and forms a more; compact and dense mortar. Recycled PET modified MMA PM could be used as precision tool; machine bases, repairing industrial floors, tanks in chemical environments.

Improved permeate flux and rejection of ultrafiltration membranes prepared from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle waste

The vast amount of not-recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle waste is a serious threat to the environment. In order to utilize the waste, PET ultrafiltration membranes were prepared using PET bottle waste as the raw material by using the phase inversion technique. Low molecular weight polyethylene glycol (PEG 400) was used as the additive for the membranes. PET resin was also used as the membrane material to compare the properties of the membrane from PET bottle waste and those from the PET resin. The membrane prepared from PET bottle waste and that prepared from PET resin showed similar membrane characteristics such as IR spectra, morphology, hydrophilicity and porosity, indicating that instead of using PET resin, PET bottle waste can be utilized as a source of the polymer material to fabricate low-cost membranes. The morphology, hydrophilicity and porosity of the membranes were strongly affected by the PEG 400 concentration. The analysis of the membrane morphology using Scanning Electron Microscopy showed that the membranes had an asymmetric structure that consisted of a macroporous cross section and a smooth active layer. Increasing the PEG 400 concentration resulted in a smaller pore size, however the hydrophilicity and the porosity of the membranes increased. As a result, the membranes showed an increase in both permeate flux and rejection with increasing concentration of PEG 400 as observed from the results of the ultrafiltration experiments. Using Bovine Serum Albumin as a solute model in the feed, high values of rejection of up to 94% were achieved. Thus, ultrafiltration membranes with improved permeate flux and rejection could be prepared from PET bottle waste by the addition of PEG 400 as the additive.

Effect of Temperature on Pyrolysis Oil Using High-Density Polyethylene and Polyethylene Terephthalate Sources From Mobile Pyrolysis Plant

This research aims to study the effect of temperature, collecting time, and condensers on properties of pyrolysis oil. The research was done be analyzing viscosity, density, proportion of pyrolysis products and performance of each condenser towers for the pyrolysis of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in the mobile pyrolysis plant. Results showed that the main product of HDPE resin was liquid, and the main product of PET resin was solid. Since the pyrolysis of PET results in mostly solid which blocked up the pipe, the analysis of pyrolysis oil would be from the use of HDPE as a raw material. The pyrolysis of HDPE resin in the amount of 100 kg at 400, 425, and 450°C produced the amount of oil 22.5, 27, and 40.5 L, respectively. The study found that 450°C was the temperature that gives the highest amount of pyrolysis oil in the experiment. The viscosity was in the range of 3.287–4.850 cSt. The density was in the range of 0.668–0.740 kg/L. The viscosity and density were increased according to three factors: high pyrolysis temperature, number of condensers and longer sampling time. From the distillation at temperatures below 65, 65–170, 170–250, and above 250°C, all refined products in each temperature range had the carbon number according to their boiling points. The distillation of pyrolysis oil in this experiment provided high amount of kerosene, followed by gasoline and diesel.

Mechanism of acetaldehyde formation in polyethylene terephthalate resin—A new insight

AbstractAcetaldehyde is one of the well‐known undesirable by‐product formed during different stages of polyethylene terephthalate manufacturing process. The migration of acetaldehyde from polyethylene terephthalate, even at trace levels of 10–25 ppb is known to adversely impact organoleptic property of water and/or beverages. We are reporting for the first time in‐situ formation of acetaldehyde in polyethylene terephthalate pellets due to the presence of residual levels of 2‐methyl 1, 3‐dioxolane in the final polymer. A new insight on generation of acetaldehyde through hydrolysis of 2‐methyl 1, 3‐dioxolane present in polyethylene terephthalate resin has been established through water spiking studies in a controlled environment. Further, systematic studies were conducted to also understand the mechanism of formation of 2‐methyl 1, 3‐dioxolane during the polyethylene terephthalate manufacturing.

Post-consumer PET Bottle Recycling: Chemical Dose Optimization

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles are being used in our daily life and consequently go to the landfills after their use. Additionally, virgin PET resins are produced from nonrenewable resources, such as fossil fuels, whose reserves are depleting continuously. Therefore, to maintain ecological and environmental balances as well as for sustainable development, post-consumer PET (pcrPET) bottles should be recycled. Among many recycling processes, mechanical recycling of pcrPET is attractive due to lower cost involvement. One of the most crucial and important processes of mechanical recycling is hot washing for contaminants removal. Hot washing uses a cleaning solution made of caustic soda (NaOH) and detergent at elevated temperature. In this paper, caustic soda and FORYL LFO (FLO) detergent doses were changed gradually to investigate effective contaminants removal through colorimetric study. Finally, concentration vs. absorbance graphs from colorimetric study suggests that 2% NaOH and 2% FLO detergent is the optimum chemical dose at hot washing for pcrPET recycling.

An Investigation of Kenaf Plant Fibers as Reinforcements in Interwoven Kenaf/Polyethylene Terephthalate (Pet)/Epoxy Hybrid Green Composites

Renewable materials have some bearing on the environment and have since increased research works related to polymer composites. This work was conducted to investigate the effects of interwoven kenaf fibers and the use of kenaf fibers in composites. In this research, interwoven between kenaf and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) was prepared and epoxy was used as the polymer matrix to form composites. The kenaf fiber composites with various kenaf fiber contents (2, 5, 8, and 10 wt %) interwoven with (PET) fibers were prepared by using open mould method. The properties of kenaf/PET/epoxy composites (KPTE) were studied. The kenaf fiber composites characterization was determined based on their mechanical properties, water absorption, morphology and thermal properties. The tensile strength test was performed using Testometric machine. The finding shows that the strength increases as the amount of kenaf fibers in the composites increases. The composites with 10% kenaf fibers interwoven PET displayed the highest tensile strength (85.3 ± 2.9 MPa) while unfilled epoxy show the lowest tensile strength (64.1 ± 16.5 MPa). The addition of kenaf fibers minimally increases the water absorption up to about 1.4%. The increases of kenaf fibers also reduces the overall thermal stability of the composites compared to the PET and epoxy resin composites. The morphology properties of KPTE composites support the tensile properties surface of the composites. This study assists to propose the kenaf fibers as a potential filler for properties improvements in epoxy-based composites contributing to the development of another environment-friendly material.

Feasibility of PET Resin as a Cement Substitute for Sustainable Construction

Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) is one of the most widely used plastics in the packaging industry. PET need hundreds of years to decompose. There is an increasing demand for cement in the construction industry. If we could use PET in construction, it will be an excellent relief for the environment.In this study, PET bottles were used to produce a PET resin by glycolysis in polyethylene glycol. These resins were prepared for a different proportion of PET particles and were added in 5, 10, and 15 percent by mass of cement. The effect of this resin on standard consistency, setting time, together with slump flow and compressive strength of cement paste, is studied. It is observed that the addition of PET resin alters the standard consistency and compressive strength, increases the setting time and slump flow. The findings of this study suggest that PET waste can be utilized to replace cement.