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Published on: November 22, 2015
Adsorptive Decolorization of a Disodium Terephthalate Solution from Monomer Recycling of Polyester
Charlotte Lücking1,2, Mandy Paschetag1, Stephan Scholl1
1Institute for Chemical and Thermal Process Engineering, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Langer Kamp 7, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany.
Abstract:
The global economy is increasingly faced with the challenge of accepting its responsibility for recycling polyester textile waste. With back-to-monomer recycling technologies, PET can be recycled to its monomers, terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol. The recycling of polyester-containing textiles requires the complete separation of all contaminating materials, dyes, and additives, which can only be achieved by depolymerization technologies. This article presents the adsorptive decolorization of a disodium terephthalate solution from the alkaline hydrolysis of polyester textile waste. The influence of different adsorbents, temperature (30-80 °C), and pH value (7-12) on the adsorptive decolorization process is investigated. As a result, activated carbons for decolorization have been identified. It was found that the adsorption process is favorable at neutral pH and a temperature of 80 °C. The findings show that a color value within the industrial specification can be obtained for recycled terephthalic acid using activated carbon adsorption. This adds a key step for high-quality textile-to-textile recycling and thus contributes to a circular economy for polyester.
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