Polyethylene terephthalate
Fernando Gomollón-Bel discovers the story of one of the most ubiquitous artificial compounds
Find a plastic bottle. There’s probably one not far from you. Now look at the bottom of it: do you see a little triangle with a number one inside? Well, that means the bottle is made from the compound polyethylene terephthalate. Yes, it’s a bit of a mouthful. That’s why lazy chemists usually call it PET.
PET is a polymer – a macromolecule made out of thousands of repeating monomer units. To produce PET, chemists use two different kinds of monomers: terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol. Both units undergo a reaction called esterification, where an organic acid and an alcohol combine to form an ester and water. But PET is not a normal ester – it’s a polymer, a poly-ester – and its properties are very different from other esters…
Thanks for using Education in Chemistry. You can view one Education in Chemistry article per month as a visitor.
Register for Teach Chemistry for free, unlimited access
Registration is open to all teachers and technicians at secondary schools, colleges and teacher training institutions in the UK and Ireland.
Get all this, plus much more:
- unlimited access to resources, core practical videos and Education in Chemistry articles
- teacher well-being toolkit, personal development resources and online assessments
- applications for funding to support your lessons
Already a Teach Chemistry member? Sign in now.
Not eligible for Teach Chemistry? Sign up for a personal account instead, or you can also access all our resources with Royal Society of Chemistry membership.