Dissolve PET it in Dichloromethane (DCM) first and then add a small amount of Dioxane to it . 

Pour this solution on a glass slide and allow it to cool slowly at room temperature.

You csn get your desired film .

I'm making a film to act as a substrate for a flexible solar cell. Will this procedure still work?

Try phenol at 90 c. Should be work fine   Good luck

Going by the book, poly(ethylene terephthalate) is soluble in phenol, o-chlorophenol, nitrobenzene and DMSO. Practically, dissolving PET is not easy, as you have observed. I suggest this mixture (tetrachlorethane/phenol) to dissolve PET.

It is important to note that a polymer takes time to dissolve completely (common practice for testing solubility is to place 0.1 g polymer/10 mL solvent in stoppered test tube overnight).

When you have clear solution of the polymer, you can cast a film as follows:

Place a metallic ring (diameter similar to small-sized coffee cup & the ring width or the hight  is reasonable) inside a glass dish in the hood. Pour little mercury inside the ring. Pour little solution over Hg & let the solvent vaporize by itself without any heating.

You will see the circular film having same diameter as the ring. Pull the film carefully with tweezers. Obviously, you can determine the thickness of the film by varying the amount of solution poured over Hg.

PET dissolves at room temperature in halogenated strong acids such as trifluoroacetic acid (either pure or as mixtures with dichloromethane).

PET dissolves quite well and quickly in 1,1,1,3,3,3-Hexafluoro-2-propanol.

Dissolution can be obtained in o-chlorophenol and o-cresol at about 80-90°C (these solvents have a strong and persistant smell). Or as said in a previous answer in tetrachloroethane/phenol solution. Never use acidic or basic solutions, else the polymer will be degraded.

Dissolve PET it in Dichloromethane (DCM) and put in a magnetic mixer by a couple hours.

Hi everyone following your comments.

I'd like to know if you think that any of the methods any of you mentioned would be suitable to disolve a PET substrate in order to leave a SIOx (containing  H and C) coating for thickness measurement.

The PET is 120microns thick.

Thank you very much

Nessima

i dissolve it in 1,1,1,3,3,3-Hexafluoro-2-propanol. and i get a good film

dissolve the PET in  phenol at high temp , it needs  warming, shaking, and time to dissolve such polymer.

1,1,1, 3, 3, 3, hexafluoro-2-propanol is a good solvent for PET as well

plz see link

http://epublication.cheme.utm.my/id/eprint/47

please Indu Bala Sethi  ,...do you have a full thesis?

http://epublication.cheme.utm.my/id/eprint/47

DMF

Can we dissolve PET in tetrahydrofuran (THF) ?

NOT DISSOLVING IN DCM, DMSO OR DMF?

Helpful discussion Following...

WE TRIED SEVERAL TIMES FOR SEVERAL DAY IN DMF DMSO and DMF but not dissolving PET

4-Chlorophenol or 2-Chlorophenol at 100˚C

https://www.researchgate.net/post/How_to_calculate_d_p_and_h_Hansen_Parameters_of_polymers_and_solvents_at_different_temperatures2

tri flouro acetic acids (TFA), make 10% solution.

Dear Everyone,

Do you know how long take to dissolve PET resin in o-cresol at 85 C?

I have been waiting for 1 hr and a half and nothing happens so far (I am doing it in a oven)

Thank you so much for you r help!

You can dissolve PET in a mixture of about 1:1 chloroform:hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP)

I have tried this myself and was able to fully dissolve the plastic in a short time.

Thank you so much Jonas!

Hi All,

How to calculate 𝛿d, 𝛿p, and 𝛿h Hansen Parameters of polymers and solvents at different temperatures?

I am using this Equation (Ra)^2 = 4 ( 𝛿d2 − 𝛿d1)^2 + ( 𝛿p2 − 𝛿p1)^2 + ( 𝛿h2 − 𝛿h1)^2 and this equation 𝜒 = VA / RT to select good solvent for polymers at different temperatures.

Could you please give an example of how to solve the equations below?

I am confused how to calculate δD, δP, δH with temperatures change and how to find α

dδD/dT = –1.25αδD

dδP/dT = –0.5αδP

dδH/dT = – δH(1.22 × 10–3 + 0.5α)

Thanks