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Antimony trioxide (CAS 1309-64-4) is a widely used plastics additive that is frequently employed as a catalyst in the production of PET resin to speed up the chemical reaction.
PET resin, also known as polyethylene terephthalate, is utilised in many different products, including packaging, sheets, and industrial parts.
PET possesses outstanding qualities including high mechanical, excellent gas barrier, and high transparency.
Antimony (Sb) is a technologically important element that is present in virtually all produced goods, especially plastics where it is widely employed as a flame retardant synergist for brominated compounds, as a catalyst for the manufacturing of polyethylene terephthalate, and as a colour pigment.
Lead alloys for batteries and lead/copper/tin alloys for machine bearings both use antimony to make their alloys harder.
It’s also used in brake and clutch components for automobiles. Antimony trioxide, which is used to make compounds that are flame-resistant, is the other important application.
The global Antimony PET resin market accounted for $XX Billion in 2023 and is anticipated to reach $XX Billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of XX% from 2024 to 2030.
Eight recognised Lebanese brands of bottled natural water were tested for antimony (Sb) leaching from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottling material as a function of contact time.
The investigation was conducted indoors in the dark at a temperature of 22 degrees C and outside in the sun at a maximum temperature of 45 degrees C.
With the exception of one brand, all of the examined brands’ leached antimony concentrations rose during the course of contact time.
After being in touch with PET packaging for 544 days, the antimony content reached 5.5 mu g/L. Smaller bottles with more surface area in contact had more antimony.
However, antimony release was not significantly affected by outdoor storage in the sun at temperatures below 45 degrees C.
Only the calcium concentration among the physico-chemical variables investigated (pH, calcium, magnesium, and bicarbonate) had a discernible impact on antimony release.
The rate of antimony leaching fits the exponential model Sb/(SN) = 0.562(e.0041t), with R-2 = 0.87 when normalised to the surface to volume ratio of the water bottle.
The various PET packaging materials were analysed using atomic absorption spectroscopy, which revealed antimony concentrations ranging from 80.6 to 352.7 mg Sb/kg PET.