Synthesis and evaluation of photoactive polyethylene terephthalate-g-ethylmethacrylate based on waste PET

摘要

Waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) was grafted with ethyl methacrylate monomer (EMA) using potassium persulphate; (KJPS) as initiator in absence/ presence of anatase and N-doped titanium dioxide; (TiO2 and N-doped TiO2) to produce a photoactive grafted copolymer that can be used in water treatment. Effect of various concentrations of monomer and initiator on grafting yield (G%) and grafting efficiency (GE%) were investigated. The effect of added TiO2 and N-doped TiO2 during grafting of waste PET on the photocatalytic activity of the resulting copolymer was also investigated. FTIR, TGA and SEM techniques were employed to characterize the prepared samples. Results revealed that optimum G% and GE% were obtained upon applying monomer and initiator concentrations of 2 x 10~(-3) and 1.5 x 10~(-3) mol/L at 70 °C after 300 minutes. The photocatalytic activity of the prepared grafted PET copolymer was evaluated by investigating the degradation of methylene blue dye using the grafted copolymer as photocatalyst. The results showed that the grafted PET containing N-doped TiO2 gave the highest rate of photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue using solar energy as a source of irradiation.