In this study, the density and compressive strength together with microstructural analysis of cement mortar by partial replacement of fine aggregate with the powder of Polyethylene terephthalate PET depolymerized by using bubble column technique has been studied. The powder of depolymerized Polyethylene terephthalate DPET was used with four different contents of 1%, 3%, 6%, and 9% by weight of fine aggregate. The destructive compressive strength test was prepared once it reaches ages 7 and 28 days of curing. Before that, the density of mortar determines at some samples for both ages. The lightweight modification mortar was set with ratios of 0.48 for water to binder and 1:2.75 for the cement to sand. After completing specific tests, the data of the result presented that the density of the modification cement mortars drops when using DPET powder as fine aggregate. The compressive strength of the modification cement mortars with DPET powder was slightly decreased with the increase of DPET powder percent. The microstructure of the modification cement mortar containing DPET powder showed that DPET particles plug the holes.

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This paper aims to prepare depolymerized polyethylene terephthalate (DPET) powder from recycled plastic water bottles. Adding this DPET powder to the cement mortar was also studied. The adopted PET depolymerization process includes the usage of both ethylene glycol (EG) as solvent and nano-MgO as a catalyst. A bubble column reactor was designed for this process. Five different mortar groups were made; each has different DPET content of 0%, 1%, 3%, 6% and 9% as a sand replacement. The flexural strength test and the water absorption measurement are done after two curing periods: 7 and 28 days. The research finding demonstrated that the flexural strength of mortar was reduced by increasing the DPET powder percentage and the maximum dropping was 15% when 9% of DPET was added. The ability of the mortar to absorb the water was reduced by 14.5% when DPET powder was 9%. The mortar microstructure is featured with fewer cavities and porosity. This work’s employed bubble column technique is limited only to the laboratory environment and needs to be scaled up within industrial mass production. For future research, it is suggested to decrease depolymerization time by using smaller pieces of plastic water bottle waste and trying other types of nanocatalyst. The modified mortar can be utilized in areas where moisture, rainfalls, and sanitation systems exist. The article claims that depolymerized waste PET improves chemical process efficiency by lowering reaction time and improving mass and heat transfer rates. Besides, this approach saves money. It is found out that the depolymerized plastic waste is much more functional due to its high cohesion capability than being used as small PET pieces.

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