Highly efficient glycolysis of polyethylene terephthalate catalyzed by a Zn-modified 5A zeolite prepared through ion exchange
- 1Key Laboratory of Marine Chemistry Theory and Technology (Ministry of Education), College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Ocean University of China Qingdao China
- 2Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Qingdao China
- 3Shandong Energy Institute Qingdao China
Abstract
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is one of the most widely produced polyesters worldwide, but its low recycling efficiency has caused serious environmental pollution and resource waste. Glycolysis is considered an optimal method for closed-loop PET recycling because it works under mild conditions and allows direct recovery of the valuable monomer bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET). Catalysts are very important in glycolysis, but most zinc-based solid catalysts reported so far have high costs and are not stable enough, and this makes them hard to use in industrial applications. To solve these problems, this study prepared a series of zinc-modified zeolite catalysts (ZnX-LTA/N&T) using industrial 5A zeolite (LTA) as the support with a simple ion exchange method, and evaluated the effects of the zinc precursor types, ion-exchange cycles, and calcination temperatures on the structure and performance of the catalysts. ZnCl2-LTA/3&400 (prepared with using ZnCl2 as precursor, calcination at 400 °C, and three ion exchange cycles) showed the best catalytic performance with 87.33% PET conversion and 74.23% BHET yield, and also maintained well stability after few recycling runs. Kinetic studies showed that the PET glycolysis followed shrinking core model with activation energy of 184.41 kJ mol−1. In addition, this catalyst also exhibited excellent activity for depolymerizing various real post-consumer PET wastes (films, trays, and beverage bottles), achieving 100% conversion for PET films with a BHET yield of up to 81.93%.
Related
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BibTeX
@article{wang2026highly,
title = {{Highly efficient glycolysis of polyethylene terephthalate catalyzed by a Zn-modified 5A zeolite prepared through ion exchange}},
author = {Haibo Wang and Xiuqi Wang and Zixin Lin and Haoyu Yao},
journal = {RSC Advances},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.1039/d6ra08028f},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1039/d6ra08028f},
note = {CC BY 3.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Highly efficient glycolysis of polyethylene terephthalate catalyzed by a Zn-modified 5A zeolite prepared through ion exchange
AU - Haibo Wang
AU - Xiuqi Wang
AU - Zixin Lin
AU - Haoyu Yao
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/04
JO - RSC Advances
DO - 10.1039/d6ra08028f
UR - https://doi.org/10.1039/d6ra08028f
AB - Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is one of the most widely produced polyesters worldwide, but its low recycling efficiency has caused serious environmental pollution and resource waste. Glycolysis is considered an optimal method for closed-loop PET recycling because it works under mild conditions and allows direct recovery of the valuable monomer bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET). Catalysts are very important in glycolysis, but most zinc-based solid catalysts reported so far have high costs and are not stable enough, and this makes them hard to use in industrial applications. To solve these problems, this study prepared a series of zinc-modified zeolite catalysts (ZnX-LTA/N&T) using industrial 5A zeolite (LTA) as the support with a simple ion exchange method, and evaluated the effects of the zinc precursor types, ion-exchange cycles, and calcination temperatures on the structure and performance of the catalysts. ZnCl2-LTA/3&400 (prepared with using ZnCl2 as precursor, calcination at 400 °C, and three ion exchange cycles) showed the best catalytic performance with 87.33% PET conversion and 74.23% BHET yield, and also maintained well stability after few recycling runs. Kinetic studies showed that the PET glycolysis followed shrinking core model with activation energy of 184.41 kJ mol−1. In addition, this catalyst also exhibited excellent activity for depolymerizing various real post-consumer PET wastes (films, trays, and beverage bottles), achieving 100% conversion for PET films with a BHET yield of up to 81.93%.
SN - 2046-2069
ER -