Biobased dimethyl isosorbide as an efficient solvent for alkaline hydrolysis of waste polyethylene terephthalate to terephthalic acid

Biobased DMI showed good ability to rapidly dissolve PET with a solubility of 0.3 g PET g DMI −1 at 170 °C in 10 min and DMI-based solvents were highly effective for alkaline hydrolysis of PET to generate TPA with a yield of 99.6% at 100 °C in 30 min.