Fingerprinting of bottle-grade poly(ethylene terephthalate) via matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry

Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) has been shown to provide a valuable technique to study the thermomechanical degradation of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET). MALDI-MS has been tested to monitor both the admixture of post-consumption bottle-grade PET (PETpc-btg) with virgin bottle-grade PET (PETv-btg) and the thermomechanical degradation effects on the chemical properties of PETv-btg. Principal component analysis of MALDI-MS data classify the samples into groups with specific features: a) PET-btg with intrinsic viscosities of 0.80 or 0.65-0.60 dL g−1); b) processed or virgin PET with the same intrinsic viscosity; c) PETv-btg from PET containing PETpc-btg; and d) PETv-btg from different manufacturers. MALDI-MS data is therefore able to reveal the quality of PET-btg resins preventing frauds and illegal use of recycled PET-btg.