Intrinsic Kinetics of Polyethylene Terephthalate Pyrolysis via Micropyrolysis and Multivariate Chromatographic Analysis
Journal Article
·
· ACS Engineering Au
- Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA (United States)
This study provides an in-depth investigation of the primary decomposition of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) via pyrolysis, employing an experimental-analytic workflow that integrates design of experiments (DoE), micropyrolysis coupled with comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC), and multivariate data analysis to verify intrinsic kinetic conditions and elucidate evolving product distributions for mapping key reaction pathways. Peaks that could not be identified using commercial spectral libraries were assigned using Mass Frontier simulations, enabling the identification of divinyl terephthalate, ethyl vinyl terephthalate, and 2-(benzoyloxy)ethyl vinyl terephthalate. A polar×polar (non-orthogonal) column set tailored for the detection of carboxylic acids enhanced the quantification of benzoic acid, 4-vinylbenzoic acid, 4-ethylbenzoic acid, and methylbenzoic acid by up to 6-fold relative to an orthogonal column combination (non-polar×mid-polar). Moreover, pyrolysis variables were systematically evaluated using a Box- Behnken design (BBD), encompassing pyrolysis temperature (500−600 °C), sample weight (50−150 μg), and carrier gas flow rate (100−300 mL min−1). Among these, pyrolysis temperature was the only statistically significant factor influencing product yields, ranging from 58.78 to 84.26 wt %. In contrast, neither the sample weight nor the carrier gas flow rate had a significant effect on product yields within the evaluated experimental space. At 600 °C, the major pyrolysis products were benzoic acid (up to 20.20 ± 1.46 wt %) and CO2 (up to 21.28 ± 1.46 wt %), which can be produced through decarboxylation reactions. These findings underscore the critical importance of selecting appropriate analytical columns for the accurate quantification of heteroatomcontaining products such as carboxylic acids, which may otherwise be underestimated or undetected due to their reactivity with the stationary phase of non-polar and mid-polar columns, as well as other GC components. They also highlight the importance of selecting pyrolysis conditions for investigating the primary decomposition of PET under an isothermal kinetically limited regime.
- Research Organization:
- Sustainable Manufacturing Innovation Alliance Corp., West Henrietta, NY (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- ANID BIO-Fulbright; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Advanced Materials & Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- EE0007897
- OSTI ID:
- 3019780
- Journal Information:
- ACS Engineering Au, Journal Name: ACS Engineering Au Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 6; ISSN 2694-2488
- Publisher:
- American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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