Progress in the catalytic glycolysis of polyethylene terephthalate

Jiayu Xin; Qi Zhang; Junjie Huang; Rong Huang; Quratulain Zahra Jaffery; Dongxia Yan; Qing Zhou; Junli Xu; Xingmei Lu

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113267

Progress in the catalytic glycolysis of polyethylene terephthalate

J Environ Manage. 2021 Oct 15:296:113267. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113267. Epub 2021 Jul 14.

Authors

Jiayu Xin¹, Qi Zhang², Junjie Huang³, Rong Huang², Quratulain Zahra Jaffery², Dongxia Yan⁴, Qing Zhou², Junli Xu⁴, Xingmei Lu⁵

Affiliations

¹ Beijing Key Laboratory of Ionic Liquids Clean Process, CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Complex Systems, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China; School of Chemical Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China; Innovation Academy for Green Manufacture, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China; Sino Danish College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China. Electronic address: jyxin@ipe.ac.cn.
² Beijing Key Laboratory of Ionic Liquids Clean Process, CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Complex Systems, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China; School of Chemical Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China; Innovation Academy for Green Manufacture, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China.
³ Beijing Key Laboratory of Ionic Liquids Clean Process, CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Complex Systems, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China; Innovation Academy for Green Manufacture, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China; Sino Danish College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
⁴ Beijing Key Laboratory of Ionic Liquids Clean Process, CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Complex Systems, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China; Innovation Academy for Green Manufacture, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China.
⁵ Beijing Key Laboratory of Ionic Liquids Clean Process, CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Complex Systems, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China; School of Chemical Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China; Innovation Academy for Green Manufacture, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China; Sino Danish College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.

PMID: 34271351
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113267

Abstract

This paper briefly reviews the development history of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and the recycling of PET. As one of the most promising way to degrade PET into oligomers and monomers that can be used for the production of high-quality PET, catalytic glycolysis is highlighted in this review. The developments on metal salt, metal oxide and ionic solvent catalysts for glycolysis of PET are systematically summarized, besides, the proposed catalytic mechanisms of ionic liquids (ILs) and deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are presented. The metallic catalysts show high catalytic performance but causing serious environmental pollution and high waste treatment costs, thereby it is proposed that metal-free catalysts, especially ILs and DESs can be the "greener" alternatives to address the PET waste problem. Additionally, the studies related to the glycolysis kinetics are discussed in this review, showing the results that PET glycolysis process consists of heterogeneous and homogeneous depolymerization, and different models should be used to investigate different depolymerization stages in order to obtain a more realistic picture.

Keywords: Catalytic mechanism; Glycolysis; Ionic solvents; Kinetic analysis; Polyethylene terephthalate.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Catalysis
Glycolysis
Ionic Liquids*
Polyethylene Terephthalates*
Recycling

Substances

Ionic Liquids
Polyethylene Terephthalates