Low-temperature Catalytic Methanolysis of Polyesters Promoted by Abundant Methyl Esters

Abstract

Depolymerization of polyesters under mild reaction conditions is a promising method of recycling waste polyester products. We previously reported that polyethylene terephthalate (PET) methanolysis proceeds at temperatures below 50 °C when using dimethyl carbonate (DMC) as a trapping agent for liberated ethylene glycol (EG). Here, we found that abundant methyl esters, which are less expensive than DMC, also behave as trapping agents by transesterification, enabling efficient polyester depolymerization of polyesters. This method is applicable to various PET materials including PET textiles blended with cotton and polyurethane.