Influence of a Catalyst in Obtaining a Post-Consumer Pet-Based Alkyd Resin That Meets Circular Economy Principles

The paper studied the influence of a catalyst, comparing it with its traditional counterparts, in the process of obtaining a polyethylene terephthalate (PET)-based alkyd resin from post-consumer beverage bottles and how it consumes raw materials and generates waste. The resin was obtained in two phases: 1) glycerol and soybean oil alcoholysis reaction, a renewable material, for polyalcohol production, and 2) polyalcohol and polyacid esterification reaction to obtain the alkyd resin (reaction via solvent). A lithium octoate catalyst (OctLi) was used, not traditional in the alcoholysis reaction, and a fraction of the polyacid replaced by post-consumer PET at a proportion of up to 24% by weight in the esterification reaction. The OctLi catalyst caused a reaction in 30 min, compared to zinc acetate (120 min) and lithium hydroxide (LiOH, 60 min). Using post-consumer PET in obtaining the alkyd resin also decreased the esterification reaction time by 22% (8% PET), 67% (16% PET) and 72% (24% PET), compared to esterification without PET. The reaction time, considering alcoholysis with OctLi and partial esterification with PET (with 24% PET), was 180 min. Adding alcoholysis time with the LiOH catalyst and esterification without PET raises the reaction time to 600 min. Process water formed during the esterification stage declined by 15% (8% PET), 50% (16% PET) and 77% (24% PET), compared to the reaction without PET. The shorter reaction time resulted in less equipment use and consequent lower energy consumption. Another result was that the alkyd resin obtained with 8% PET was adequate for paint formulations.