Do Hyun Kim
Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology, South Korea
Title: Title: Practical process for the chemical recycling of PET
Biography
Biography: Do Hyun Kim
Abstract
The recycling of chemicals is a central topic in the efforts toward sustainable development. Among these, we present our work on the chemical depolymerization of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) to recover its constituent monomer. Research and development on designing novel catalysts for improving monomer yield and catalyst efficiency remains a primary goal in optimizing the depolymerization process. Also, most proposed processes are limited to the use of pristine PET. The low-grade PET should be chemically treated to remove impurities before depolymerization.\r\nWe demonstrate various flexible yet practical synthesis strategies, e.g. ultrasound-assisted deposition, biopolymer coating, to obtain optimum catalytic properties and pre-treatment of low-grade PET for depolymerization of PET to recover its constituent monomer. The effectiveness and simplicity of these methods render the process to be truly green — from synthesis up to process application.\r\n