polyethylene terephthalate (PET) Converting PET into a form of energy

Question

Hello,

I'm currently doing some research on PET and I developed a question. Is it possible to heat PET to its boiling point and use a form of Electrolysis to separate the elements( depending on their charge). I'm not sure what type of bonds they have (ionic or covalent). Thank you for your time reader, have a nice day.

Answer 1

Although you could attempt electrolysis on PET, I don't believe that it would be effective. Hydrolysis is generally used on salts and other compounds that form a lot of ions. When putting less ionic compounds such as H₂O through hydrolysis, it's generally necessary to add some salt or acid in order to force more ions to form. Given that PET is even less ionic than water, I doubt that you would have much success trying to electrolyze it.

If your goal is to break down PET, I think it makes more sense to try to break it down using heat instead of electricity. There's an abstract on the results of doing that here:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00268970802077876

If your goal is to get rid of plastic waste and save the environment, I would recommend researching better recycling methods for PET.

And if this is for a research project and you're not too set on PET specifically, I would recommend researching ways to manufacture, improve, or reuse bioplastics instead.

Also, to address your last question, PET is made up of covalent bonds.

Answer 2

PET is polymer without bp. As a polyester, it can be recycled by degradation.