Surface and Thermodynamic Parameters of Polymeric Surfactants from Recycled Poly(ethylene terephthalate)

Recycling of PET waste was carried out in presence of diethanolamine and manganese acetate as catalyst. The produced oligomers were reacted with stearic acid and polyethylene glycol, PEG, which have different molecular weights 400, 1,000, and 4,000 to produce nonionic polymeric surfactants having different hydrophilic‐hydrophobic balance (HLB). The surface tension, critical micelle concentration (CMC), and surface activities were determined at different temperatures. Surface parameters such as surface excess concentration Γ_max, the area per molecule at interface A_min and the effectiveness of surface tension reduction (Π_CMC) were determined from the adsorption isotherms of the prepared surfactants. From the adsorption isotherm, some thermodynamic data for the adsorption process are calculated and discussed.

Keywords:

• PET glycolysis
• thermodynamic parameters
• surface activity
• adsorption
• recycling