Decomposition of polyethylene 2,6-naphthalene dicarboxylate to constituent monomers using supercritical methanol

Abstract

The depolymerization of polyethylene 2,6-naphthalene dicarboxylate (PEN) to its constituent monomers and oligomer using supercritical methanol without any catalyst was studied. The yield of each monomer PEN was defined based on the number of carbon atoms in the repeating segment of the PEN and in the monomer. The yield of oligomer was defined by the equations similar to the monomers, where the moles of a specific monomer produced were replaced by the moles of specific component obtained from the decomposition of the oligomer.