Renewable\nPET from Recovered Plastic Waste

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is a key component\nof many global\nplastic products; however, concerns regarding the global accumulation\nof plastic debris have motivated the development of recyclable and\ndegradable plastics. Thus, we focus on preparing polymers from starting\nmaterials that are derived from plastic waste (Control PET), and we\nthen compare the thermomechanical, optical, and end-use properties\nof the materials to their control plastic counterparts. We prepared\ndifferent polymers (Recycled PET) from a set of tailored reaction\nconditions that were refined based on a series of iterative structure–property\nevaluations. For instance, we quantified the glass transition and\nmelting temperatures of the resultant polymers, and these were benchmarked\nagainst those of Control PET plastics. We established the mechanical\nproperties of the Control PET sample and compared them to those of\nthe polymers synthesized from starting materials. The Recycled PET\nshowed excellent performance, maintaining nearly all (around 92%)\nof the control’s ultimate tensile strength and storage modulus\n(<i>E</i>′). The Recycled PET exhibited stress relaxation\nbehavior due to the presence of activated ester groups within the\npolymer chains. Hydrolytic depolymerization breaks Recycled PET down\ninto its basic components, enabling it to be recycled again and again,\nreducing reliance on control materials. Therefore, this work offers\ninsights into a design strategy for PET, considering its ease of synthesis,\nabundant precursor availability, and promising end-use properties.