Polyesters also impact strength

As with poly(ethylene terephthalate) PBT-based copolymers have been introduced to overcome some of the deficiencies of the homopolymer. For example, the rather low notched impact strength of unreinforced grades has been overcome by partial replacement of the terephthalic acid with a longer chain aliphatic dicarboxylic acid. Improved toughness has also been obtained by grafting about 5% of ethylene and vinyl acetate onto the polyester backbone. 

By way of conclusion, the SIN materials were quite different from the original sequential IPN compositions. While the polyester linkage could be used with the sequential mode of synthesis also, its presence in the SIN made for much better impact strengths, probably because of the lower elastomer Tg permitted. The SIN synthesis allowed a greater range of compositions to be made. 

Among the new being consider for reactive processing into polyurethane-based materials, the so-called polyester amines, in combination with chain extenders, which also contain amine groups, are especially promising.19 Using these materials allows the synthesis of polymers with polyurea instead of polyurethane bonds. This results in materials with improved impact strength and lower water absorption. 

The most successful application of the RIM-process is in the production of polyurethane-based materials. Other systems, such as composites based on polycaproamide, epoxy resins, and unsaturated polyesters can also be processed by reactive injection molding. New reactive systems have also been specially created for the RIM-process260 because of the exceptional opportunities it offers for manufacture of finished articles from engineering plastics with a high modulus of elasticity and impact strength. The automotive industry, which is the main customer for RIM-articles, can utilize this technology to manufacture of massive parts such as body panels, covers, wings, bumpers and other made of newly developed plastics. 

Brittleness is found with semi-crystalline polymers below their glass-rubber transition Tg. An example is PP, which becomes brittle at about T -10 °C. PE retains its ductile nature down to very low temperatures. Other polymers have a Tg of some tens of °C above room temperature, such as polyamides and thermoplastic polyesters. Various mechanisms are responsible for a reasonable impact strength at room temperature for polyamides this is, for instance, the absorption of water also secondary transitions in the glassy region may play a role. 

Polyesters containing long-chain unbranched glycols have the highest impact strength. This property also increases with the increase in the chain length of aliphatic acids. 

Table VI compares the key properties of these two types of thermotropic polymers category by category. The samples compared had the same melting ranges, but were very different in reduced viscosities and solubility characteristics. The data compared were those processed under the most favorable conditions. Interestingly enough, the as-spun fibers from the polyester-carbonate can be heat-treated more efficiently than those fibers (of same tenacity) spun from the polyester. Both of them gave fiber properties far superior to those of nylons and polyethylene terephthalate. These two classes of polymers also had comparative properties (such as tensile strength, tensile modulus, flex modulus, notched Izod impact strength) as plastics and their properties were far superior to most plastics without any reinforcement.

A more practical use may be in saturated thermoset polyester mouldings(17) and more importantly in unsaturated polyesters. Inclusion of small amounts of PMDA is claimed to impart shrink resistance to mouldings(18), higher impact strength and improved high temperature properties(19). One could reasonably infer that they would also convey increased fire resistance. 

The workhorse of the RTS industry is TS polyester (also called polyester-TS) with glass fiber. The fiber reinforcement may be in the form of chopped fibers, porous nonwoven mats, woven fabrics, or continuous fibers. The combination of plastics and reinforcements results in versatile materials with unusual characteristics. The reinforcement adds strength and toughness to inherent weather resistance, moldability, and colorability. Thus RTSs are used because of their increased tensile, flexural, torsional, and impact strengths increased modulus of elasticity increased creep resistance reduced coefficient of thermal expansion increased thermal conductivity and, in many cases, lower costs. 

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