Abstract
Polyester microfiber fabrics were decomposed at 100, 110, and 12$0^{\circ}C$ in saturated CaO/ethylene glycol solutions(CaO/EG), and the characteristics of decomposition kinetics were discussed in comparison to those by hot aqueous hydroxide solution(NaOH). The Arrhenius pre-exponential factor(A) was 9.17x $10^{14}$/M $sec^{-1}$and the activation energy($E_{a}$) was 8.19kcal/mol. While the A value was 1.947x $10^{14}$/M $sec^{-1}$ and the ($E_{a}$ value was about 15~19kcal/mol in NaOH-PET decomposition reaction. The much higher A value of the CaO/EG-PET decomposition reaction means that CaO/EG-PET decomposition reaction will occur in a less selective fashion in comparison to the NaOH-PET decomposition reaction. On the other hand, the lower ($E_{a}$) value of the CaO/EG-PET decomposition reaction than that of the NaOH-PET decomposition reaction means that CaO/EG-PET decomposition reaction is less sensitive on the variation of temperature than NaOH-PET decomposition reaction.