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Degradation of poly(butylene terephthalate) in different supercritical alcohol solvents
Author(s) -
Yang Junhe,
Huang Jie,
Chyu Minking K.,
Wang QingMing,
Xiong Danliu,
Zhu Zibin
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.31649
Subject(s) - supercritical fluid , dimethyl terephthalate , methanol , depolymerization , materials science , autoclave , alcohol , organic chemistry , ethanol , yield (engineering) , nuclear chemistry , polymer chemistry , chemical engineering , chemistry , catalysis , composite material , engineering
Reactions were carried out in a batch autoclave reactor. Poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) and different alcohol solvents were used in the vessel. The reaction products were analyzed by infrared spectroscopy and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Alcoholysis of PBT occurred in supercritical methanol, ethanol, and propanol, and we obtained dimethyl terephthalate (DMT), diethyl terephthalate (DET), and dipropyl terephthalate (DPT), respectively. The conversion of PBT at different temperatures showed similar trends but different degradation degrees. The reactivity for the alcoholysis of PBT in supercritical methanol was much higher than those in supercritical ethanol and propanol. DMT and 1,4‐butanediol obtained from the depolymerization of PBT in supercritical methanol reached 98.5 and 72.3%, respectively, at 583 K for 75 min. The yield of DET reached 76% for 75 min. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010