Sodium Carbonate Catalyzed Aminolytic Degradation of PET

The catalytic activity of a low priced and non-toxic catalyst (sodium carbonate) was explored in an aminolytic degradation reaction of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle waste with hydrazine monohydrate (HMH). Reactions were carried out with different catalyst concentrations, PET-hydrazine monohydrate ratio, reaction time and reaction temperature so as to optimize the yield of the product. The product (terephthalic dihydrazide (TDH)) having potential commercial applications was characterized by CHN analysis, FTIR spectroscopy, 1 H and 13 C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray powder diffractometry (XRD). The surface morphology of the synthesized product and the PET waste flakes before and during the degradation was investigated with the help of scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The process reported in this paper results in significantly higher yield (84%) of TDH in a shorter reaction time of 3 hours at a relatively lower temperature (65°C) as compared to the uncatalyzed PET-HMH aminolysis reaction.