Studies on polyester packaging. Effects of basic washing on multi-use PET and PEN bottles

Abstract

Washing PET or PEN bottles intended for reuse with sodium hydroxide solutions appeared to affect the surface of the materials. The possible hydrolysis of the ester chemical function during the process was investigated. A new method for extracting and separating neutral and acidic products from the polymers was developed, and relative quantification of the isolated molecules was carried out by gas and liquid chromatography. Some adjuvants were no longer present after washing, but others were more easily extracted. A very weak hydrolysis reaction for PEN could not be excluded but it did not seem to occur for PET.