Synthesis of poly(ethylene terephthalate) in benzyl imidazolium ionic liquids |
| |
| Authors: | Junyan Dou Zhengping Liu Khalid Mahmood Yuntao Zhao |
| |
| Affiliation: | Institute of Polymer Chemistry and Physics, College of Chemistry, BNU Key Lab of Environmentally Friendly and Functional Polymer Materials, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China |
| |
| Abstract: | In order to improve the method of synthesis of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), a series of ionic liquids (ILs) based on benzyl imidazolium (YBMIM]X], Y = NO2, CH3, F; B = benzyl; X = Tf2N) were used to investigate the formation of PET at low temperature and pressure. High molecular weight PET (Mw up to 2.6 × 104 g mol?1) was obtained by two‐step polycondensation in these ILs at lower temperature (230–240 °C) than with traditional melt polycondensation (270–290 °C). Moreover, the molecular weight of the resulting PET was found to depend on the activities of the catalysts used in the ILs. The catalysts (Sb2(OCH2CH2O)3, Sb(OAc)3, Sb2O3) used in the preparation of PET have little effect on the thermostability of the ILs. The ILs can decrease the viscosity of the reaction system, and thus small molecules can be easily removed. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry |
| |
| Keywords: | ionic liquid thermostability polycondensation poly(ethylene terephthalate) |
|
|
