Recycling of Waste Poly(ethylene terephthalate) Bottles by Alkaline Hydrolysis and Recovery of Pure Nanospindle-Shaped Terephthalic Acid

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is a versatile engineering plastic which exhibits exceptional mechanical and thermal properties. Huge amounts of PET are consumed in various industries such as food packaging industry, textile industry, in the manufacturing of audio, video tapes and X-ray films and so on. But due to its substantial fraction by volume in water bodies and its high persistence to the atmospheric and biological agents, it could be considered as a hazard substance. Thereby chemical recycling of PET serves as a solution to solid waste problem as it transforms PET into its monomers via hydrolysis. Chemical recycling of post consumed waste PET bottles via alkaline hydrolysis is the main aim of this paper. Operating parameters such as reaction time and temperature were optimized for the conversion of PET into nanospindle-shaped terephthalic acid (TPA). Depolymerization of PET was carried out via alkaline hydrolysis by varying reaction time and temperature and maximum yield of 92% was obtained at 200 °C with reaction time of 25 minutes. The formed TPA nanospindles were further characterized in detail which exhibited high crystallinity, purity and fascinating thermal and surface properties.