Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

12-1-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Chemistry

First Advisor

Javier Macossay-Torres

Second Advisor

Narayan Bhat

Third Advisor

Debasish Bandyopadhyay

Abstract

Over 90% of the approximately 1 million PET bottles sold every minute end up in landfills or oceans, where they can persist for centuries. Plastic pollution urgently needs sustainable management and recycling solutions to mitigate the environmental impact of PET waste. From all techniques to recycle plastic waste, catalytic glycolysis stands out for its rapid reaction time, high monomer yields, lower costs, and enhanced durability.

In this work glycolysis of PET was evaluated under microwave conditions using 1,5,7-Triazabicyclo [4.4.0] dec5-ene (TBD) and 1,8-Diazabicyclo [5.4.0] undec-7-ene (DBU) as catalysts, being DBU as the best catalyst for further analysis. The effect of reaction parameters such as temperature ranges, catalyst concentrations, time, and PET depolymerization rate (% PET conversion) were evaluated and optimized via using a Machine Learning model. The reactions were conducted using an Anton Paar Monowave 400 microwave reactor at catalyst concentrations (1.5 - 10 wt. /wt. %), PET to Ethylene Glycol ratio of 1:10, temperature range 180 - 220°C. and time (1 min – 60 mins). PET was completely depolymerized in 14 mins at 220°C using a catalyst concentration of 5.8 wt./wt.%, and the product was characterized using NMR, FTIR and Mass Spectrometry.

Comments

Copyright 2024 Mehwash Aamir. All Rights Reserved. https://proquest.com/docview/3313401541

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