Recycling a plastic soda bottle

Nile Red

yeah i think so

is polyurethane flammable?

Nile Red

Yeah thats probably a better option. The scissors nearly broke my hand.

Michael Aichlmayr

It's awesome that you did this. I have a (big) box full of PET bottle bits I've been collecting for experiments. If you do this again, you might try a paper shredder. After de-labling and de-gluing, I cut the thick necks off and run the rest through one of those shredders that has a CD/credit-card slot. I didn't have this specifically in mind, but now I have to add it to my list!

Michael Aichlmayr

I'm curious why you use vegetable oil for your bath instead of mineral oil.

Nile Red

I think it acts kind of like a surfactant and it helps even out the reaction. I read somewhere that it helps keep the bubble cavity size consistent and even.

Nile Red

hmm, ill look into it!

Will Latinette

1280x800 on my (old) laptop... I guess it was just the smallest one- like at time ~6:20 that looked unclear- but maybe it was just me- sorry...

Nile Red

I just checked out my rendered video, and the diagrams are all crisp. what resolution are you watching it on?

Nile Red

It was actually supposed to be both manganese, but i accidentally ordered mg lol. The mg salt was still supposed to work, so i used it anyway. I completely forgot to talk about that

Nile Red

hmm, they shouldnt be blurry! ill look into that

Will Latinette

What does the silicone oil do?

Will Latinette

Alibaba has some suppliers of TDI 80/20 in kilogram quantities for ~$5/kg (supposedly). Don't know about shipping from China though!

Will Latinette

I guess you know, but your diagrams seem blurry- hard to read, even on full screen. Could you maybe put a link directly to the reaction diagrams for those who are interested?

Will Latinette

Did you explain why you had to use two different metal catalysts?

Bdnugget

Sounds like a great idea. The terephthalic acid you get from this looks very pure (visually), a nice white solid but difficult to get dry by air. This was 10 years ago though so I had no way of analyzing it. I bet you can make pretty high grade PET from it that way and I'm looking forward to a video on it!

Nile Red

The hardest part is just getting the isocyanate

Nile Red

I was thinking of purifying terephthalic acid from it and then using it to make more PET

Nile Red

I think it just came off with acetone

Nile Red

im really not sure honestly. I havent looked much into this. This was my first polyurethane project!

Nile Red

It think it should

Nile Red

lol good call. I forgot that i use mg acetate instead

Colin Ries

in the reagents shot you show magnesium acetate but later you say manganese acetate... Might wanna correct that

Will Latinette

Great video- I'd be interested in an optimization of the ingredients re CO$T... It might be feasible to convert some of our own plastic waste into usable insulating foam- though it seems a pretty difficult process as you've describe. Looking forward to your alternative recycling PET videos.

Daniel Blake Shoemaker

Would pure Ethylene glycol work instead of Diethylene glycol?

Glen J Measday

Interesting the increase in toughness over time. How does this polyurethane foam technique compare to 'polyurethane paints' and varnishes you can buy?

Nice video, material science rocks! How did you clean the prepolymer goo from your glassware?

Bdnugget

Awesome video hombre! Never knew about this procedure. I did make terephthalic acid acid once by heating pieces of PET bottle in propylene glycol with NaOH and acidifying afterwards. It works pretty well and gives nice fluffy clouds of terephthalic acid but I had no further use for it. Maybe you can try it and use it for something cool?