PET Depolymerization Catalyzed by Sulfates under Microwave Irradiation

Different sulfates were used as the catalysts of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) depolymerization under microwave of 250 watts, in which ZnSO 4 presented the best catalysis in this reaction, and the depolymerization degree (DPD) of PET was reached to 90 %. It was found that the depolymerization was occurred simultaneously on the surface and the internal parts of PET chips by the observation of scanning electron microscope (SEM) images. In addition, DPD increased with the improvement of the polarization forces of these sulfates.