Low-melting polyesters

Finally, the use of low-melting polyesters for low-melt fibers (melting point, 110-180 °C) should be pointed out, where TPA is replaced partly by IPA or adipic acid for bond fiber application. 

One exception to this rule 1s the low melting polyesters since poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) is a naturally occurring material which many bacteria and fungi use to store energy in the same manner that animals use fat. 

The 12C Series of low melting polyester-based TPU is currently being developed for a wide range of specialty engineering plastics. The interesting thermal and rheological properties of this series provide enhanced compatibility with a wide variety of other thermoplastics. 

However, because of the low melting poiats and poor hydrolytic stabiUty of polyesters from available iatermediates, Carothers shifted his attention to linear ahphatic polyamides and created nylon as the first commercial synthetic fiber. It was nearly 10 years before. R. Whinfield and J. T. Dickson were to discover the merits of poly(ethylene terephthalate) [25038-59-9] (PET) made from aromatic terephthaUc acid [100-21-0] (TA) and ethylene glycol [107-21-1] (2G). 

Thermoplastic Fibers. The thermoplastic fibers, eg, polyester and nylon, are considered less flammable than natural fibers. They possess a relatively low melting point furthermore, the melt drips rather than remaining to propagate the flame when the source of ignition is removed. Most common synthetic fibers have low melting points. Reported values for polyester and nylon are 255—290°C and 210—260°C, respectively. 

Esters. Neopentyl glycol diesters are usually Hquids or low melting soflds. Polyesters of neopentyl glycol, and in particular unsaturated polyesters, are prepared by reaction with polybasic acids at atmospheric pressure. High molecular weight linear polyesters (qv) are prepared by the reaction of neopentyl glycol and the ester (usually the methyl ester) of a dibasic acid through transesterification (37—38). The reaction is usually performed at elevated temperatures, in vacuo, in the presence of a metallic catalyst. 

Polyesters are the most important class of synthetic fibers. In general, polyesters are produced by an esterification reaction of a diol and a diacid. Carothers (1930) was the first to try to synthesize a polyester fiber by reacting an aliphatic diacid with a diol. The polymers were not suitable because of their low melting points. However, he was successful in preparing the first synthetic fiber (nylon 66). In 1946, Whinfield and Dickson prepared the first polyester polymer by using terephthalic acid (an aromatic diacid) and ethylene glycol. 

Aliphatic polyesters are low-melting (40-80°C) semicrystalline polymers or viscous fluids and present inferior mechanical properties. Notable exceptions are poly (a-hydroxy acid)s and poly (ft -hydroxy acid)s. 

Due to low hydrolytic and chemical resistance and to low melting point, aliphatic polyesters have long been considered to be limited to applications such as plasticizers or macromonomers for the preparation of polyurethane foams, coatings, or... 

Another important type of condensation polymer are the linear polyesters, such as poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and poly (butylene terephthalate) (PBT). Copolymers of polyesters and PA have been studied in detail, and it has been shown that random copolyesteramides have a low structural order and a low melting temperature. This is even the case for structurally similar systems such as when the group between the ester unit is the same as that between the amide unit, as in caprolactam-caprolactone copolymers (Fig. 3.10).22 Esters and amide units have different cell structures and the structures are not therefore isomorphous. If block copolymers are formed of ester and amide segments, then two melting temperatures are present. 

Crystalline polyesters from CHDM and aliphatic diacids are possible, but generally of little interest because of low melting points and low glass transition temperatures. Cyclic aliphatic diacids offer some potentially attractive possibilities. For example, the polyester of CHDM with a high-frans isomer 1,4-cyclohexanedicarboxylate has a melting point ( 225°C) similar to that of PBT [53],... 

This article is an overview of the novel technology of self-reinforced LCPs with polyesters, poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and poly(ethylene naphtha-late) (PEN) [10-13, 21, 23], LCP/polyester blends in a polyester matrix form in situ fibrils which improve the mechanical properties. LCPs have an inherently low melt viscosity, and provide LCP/polyester blends that effectively lower the melt viscosity during melt spinning [24], and fast injection-molding cycles. The miscibility between the LCP and polyesters can be controlled by the degree of transesterification [25] in the reactive extrusion step, and fibril formation in LCP-reinforced polyester fibers has been studied. 

Polyesters and polyamides are the most prevalent of this type of polymer. Poly(ethylene terephthalate) is used in bottle manufacture and along with other packaging plastics is not biodegradable. Potts(54) established very early that only low melting and low molecular weight aliphatic polyesters were biodegradable. 

Completely aliphatic polyesters, made from aliphatic diacid and aliphatic diol components), are not of major industrial importance because of their low melting temperatures and poor hydrolytic stability. (Low-molecular-weight aliphatic polyesters are used as plasticizers and prepolymer reactants in the synthesis of polyurethanes see Secs. 2-12e, 2-13c-2). 

Ethylene glycol (EG) has two OH groups so it wiU polymerize as a linear polymer in polyesters, polyurethanes, or polyethers. Ethylene glycol is also water soluble and has a low melting point so it is used in antifreeze. 

These polyesters were investigated by W. H. Carothers in the 1930 s, but they were not commercialized at that time because of their high flexibility and low melting point (54 ) which made then unsuitable for use as fibers that could withstand the heat of a flat iron. They are used as flexibilizers for other polymers and as reactants for polyurethanes. (PUs). 

---