The degradation of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) was successfully achieved using ionic liquids. The products were separated according to their solubilities in boiling water. Average molecular weights of the main product were determined by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The physicochemical properties of the product have been characterized by scanning electron microscopy equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray analyzer (SEM/EDX), X-ray diffractometer, infrared spectrometric analyzer, differential scanning calorimeter, and thermogravimetric analysis instrument. The influences of experimental parameters, such as the reaction time, reaction temperature, and addition of different catalysts on the solubility of PET were investigated. A study on the recycling of the ionic liquid shows that ionic liquid could be used repeatedly. Moreover, the solubility of PET in the recycled ionic liquid is higher than that in fresh ionic liquid. Further study shows that the increase of solubility in the recycled ionic liquid is attributable to the presence of a minor amount of water. A mechanism of the degradation of PET in 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([bmim]Cl) was proposed. In addition, the kinetics of this reaction was investigated. Results show that this degradation process is a first-order kinetic reaction and the activation energy is 232.79 kJ mol -1 .
The effectiveness of several zeolite catalysts was investigated using the cataluminescence (CTL) gas sensor system. Trace amounts of n-hexane in air samples were detected by this method. This research establishes that the specific pore size of the zeolite offers designable environment for selective CTL reaction, and "Lewis-type" basic sites appear to contribute to the catalytic nature of the zeolite surface. By incorporating either Cs+ or K+, the velocity and luminescence intensity of these catalytic reactions increase while going from Na to Cs, according to the basic nature of this group of cations in the following order: Cs > K > Na. The proposed sensor shows high sensitivity and selectivity to n-hexane at a mild reaction temperature of 225 degrees C. Quantitative analysis was performed at a selected wavelength of 460 nm. The linear range of CTL intensity versus concentration of n-hexane was 0.776-23.28 microg/mL (R = 0.997, n = 7) on CsNaY, and 0.776-23.28 microg/mL (R = 0.998, n = 7) on CsNaX, with a detection limit of 0.155 microg/mL (signal-to-noise ratio 3). Interferences from foreign substances such as methanol, ethanol, 2-propanol, acetone, acetonitrile, chloroform, or dichlormethane and other alkanes, aromatics, and alkyl aromatics such as methane, n-pentane, 3-methylpentane, 3,3-dimethylpentane, methylbenzene, ethylbenzene, and sec-butylbenzene were very low or not detectable. Results of a series of GC and GC/MS experiments suggest that the possible mechanism of the reaction is the formation of an unstable transition structure with a four-member ring, and this ring most probably consists of an oxygen atom and a carbonium ion localized on the zeolite suface.
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