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Effect of polymerization and preheating processes on poly(ethylene terephthalate) depolymerization
Author(s) -
Asakuma Yusuke,
Koga Daisuke,
Nakagawa Kyuya,
Maeda Kouji,
Fukui Keisuke
Publication year - 2012
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.34878
Subject(s) - depolymerization , crystallinity , materials science , polymerization , ethylene , polymer chemistry , reaction mechanism , transesterification , poly ethylene , chemical engineering , composite material , polymer , chemistry , organic chemistry , catalysis , engineering
The depolymerization reaction of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) was analyzed on the basis of experimental and numerical data obtained from molecular orbital calculations. Various types of PETs polymerized by different methods and preheated by microwave irradiation were used to investigate the depolymerization mechanism. The activation energies obtained from the optimized structures of the ground state and the transition state were compared with the experimental data. On the basis of these comparisons, it was found that not only the crystallinity but also configuration changes caused by preheating were essential for realizing a high rate of transesterification reactions, such as depolymerization. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012