title: Converting poly(ethylene terephthalate) waste into carbon microspheres in a supercritical CO2 system.
abstract: Well-shaped carbon spheres in micrometer dimensions were prepared by pyrolyzing postconsumer poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) in supercritical carbon dioxide at 500-650 °C for 3 h. It was also found that the yield of carbon microspheres increased as the reaction temperature increased and the reaction time was prolonged. Carbon microspheres were obtained in 47.5% yield as the reaction occurred at 650 °C for 9 h. A high-pressure carbonization mechanism of aromatic hydrocarbons decomposed from PET waste was proposed according to gas chromatography combined with mass spectrometry analysis. One possible application of the carbon microspheres as a negative electrode material for lithium ion batteries was evaluated.
authors.affiliation: Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale and Department of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, China.
authors.forename: Lingzhi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Qianwang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000737:chemistry*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D055772:Green Chemistry Technology; D006841:Hydrocarbons, Aromatic / Q000737:chemistry; D017745:Incineration / Q000379:methods*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008863:Microspheres; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000737:chemistry*; D011093:Polyethylene Terephthalates; D059027:Recycling; D013696:Temperature; D014866:Waste Products / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D006841:Hydrocarbons, Aromatic; D011093:Polyethylene Terephthalates; D014866:Waste Products; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D002244:Carbon