Journal
ACS APPLIED POLYMER MATERIALS
Volume 4, Issue 8, Pages 5298-5307Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/acsapm.2c00212
Keywords
bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET); aliphatic dicarboxylic acid; open-loop recycling system; BHET-based biodegradable polymer; sustainable packaging application
Funding
- Wearable Platform Materials Technology Center (WMC) [2016R1A5A1009926]
- National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) - Korean Government (MSIT) [2021R1A2B5B03001416]
- National Research Foundation of Korea [2021R1A2B5B03001416] Funding Source: Korea Institute of Science & Technology Information (KISTI), National Science & Technology Information Service (NTIS)
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This study demonstrates the potential of recycling PET waste and sustainable packaging applications through the synthesis of biodegradable aromatic-aliphatic copolymers with excellent properties from BHET.
Bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET) is one of the major products in the process of chemical recycling of waste poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET). In this study, we synthesized a series of biodegradable aromatic-aliphatic random copolymers, poly(ethylene aliphatate-co-terephthalate), directly from BHET together with aliphatic dicarboxylic acids including succinic acid (SA), adipic acid (AA), sebacic acid (Seb), and dodecanedioic acid (DDDA) via a two-step melt polycondensation reaction. The composition of the copolymers was adjusted precisely to optimize their crystallinity, thermo-mechanical properties, and biodegradation performance. In particular, the aromatic-aliphatic copolymer films exhibited excellent elastic properties, displaying tensile strength <27 MPa and elongation at break near 700%, as well as excellent optical transparency (haze <10%), thereby outperforming the conventional petroleum-derived and biodegradable polymers. The biodegradable aromatic-aliphatic copolymers synthesized based on BHET with excellent transparency, mechanical properties, and biodegradability show remarkable potential for open-loop recycling from PET waste and sustainable packaging applications.
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