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Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) has been extensively used for the fabrication of various packaging materials, creating million tons of waste per year. Degrading and recycling PET waste has been identified as a prominent issue. Herein, we demonstrate an effective process to chemically convert PET to bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET) through the use of metal azolate framework-6 (MAF-6) as a catalyst in the presence of ethylene glycol. MAFs are a subclass of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), with MAF-6 comprised of the metal ion Zn2+ and the organic ligand 2-ethylimidazole. We have optimized the reaction temperature, reaction time, and catalyst amount to achieve up to a 92.4% conversion of PET and an 81.7% yield of BHET at 180 °C for 4 h. MAF-6 was easily recovered and reused for at least five times. We have also hypothesized a mechanism for the high conversion and yield of the PET glycolysis reaction catalyzed by MAF-6. The use of MAF-6 as a catalyst opens a new route for the postconsumer recycling of PET with remarkable practicality.
Yang et al. (Wed,) studied this question.
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