Identification of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Polymer Using X-ray Diffractogarm Method: Part 1

X-Ray Diffraction XRD method was used to identify six PET polymers samples collected from different dump sites around the city, they were washed crushed and characterised and x-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis was carried out on the samples for identification and the results were compared with literature.The diffractogram finger print patterns generated by the samples were studied and informed discussions were made.The XRD analysis showed that six samples of the PET polymer studied showed triclinic crystalline structure, the samples showed an average specific gravity of 1.33 and their 2θ 3 Max Peaks fell within 24-27.In addition the ACD (Å) was ≈0.5, ≈4.99, ≈4.99, ≈4.98, ≈4.97and 4.96 for PET polymer samples A, B, C, D, E and F respectively.The FWHM was 0.5, 0.51, 0.52, 0.52, 0.53, and 0.54 for PET polymer samples A, B, C, D, E and F respectively.These results were consistent with the studies of previous researchers.While the XRD analysis is a good tool that can be used to identify the PET polymers it cannot however, be able to differentiate between PET polymers that are identically similar and produced from different sources, more characterization method may still have to be deployed to overcome these challenges.