Polyesters commercially available

Unsaturated Polyester. Commercially available unsaturated polyester (39) has found a large number of applications in many areas, eg, auto industries and coating materials. A water-soluble imsaturated polymer with the molecular weights of 11,000-13,000 g/mol was cross-linked with the RAMEB-complexed styrene at 25°C using 4 mol% of the water-soluble redox initiator. A comparative experiment with uncomplexed comonomer stsu ene showed that higher yield and a higher content of polyst5Tene in the copolymer was achieved in the presence of RAMEB (40). 

The purpose of this section is to compare the properties of PHA polymers with those of polyesters commercially available. In fact, the thermal properties of materials are important for processing and also during the use of the products derived from these materials as well as the physical and mechanical properties of these polymers in order to design novel eco-friendly films. The properties of some biodegradable polymers are gathered in Table 1 and data available for two most common polymers (LDPE, PP) are added for comparison. 

The first synthetic biodegradable aliphatic polyester commercially available was poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL), produced under the trade name Tone by the Union Carbide Corporation in the USA. The product was the subject of a number of biodegradability studies [7] and was originally employed for medical sutures, and then as a component in biodegradable polyester/starch blends (e.g., Mater-Bi Z-grade, Novamont, Novara, Italy) [13]. 

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). 

THPC—Amide—PoIy(vinyI bromide) Finish. A flame retardant based on THPC—amide plus poly(vinyl bromide) [25951-54-6] (143) has been reported suitable for use on 35/65, and perhaps on 50/50, polyester—cotton blends. It is appUed by the pad-dry-cure process, with curing at 150°C for about 3 min. A typical formulation contains 20% THPC, 3% disodium hydrogen phosphate, 6% urea, 3% trimethylolglycouril [496-46-8] and 12% poly(vinyl bromide) soUds. Approximately 20% add-on is required to impart flame retardancy to a 168 g/m 35/65 polyester—cotton fabric. Treated fabrics passed the FF 3-71 test. However, as far as can be determined, poly(vinyl bromide) is no longer commercially available. 

Much more important is the hydrogenation product of butynediol, 1,4-butanediol [110-63-4]. The intermediate 2-butene-l,4-diol is also commercially available but has found few uses. 1,4-Butanediol, however, is used widely in polyurethanes and is of increasing interest for the preparation of thermoplastic polyesters, especially the terephthalate. Butanediol is also used as the starting material for a further series of chemicals including tetrahydrofuran, y-butyrolactone, 2-pyrrohdinone, A/-methylpyrrohdinone, and A/-vinylpyrrohdinone (see Acetylene-DERIVED chemicals). The 1,4-butanediol market essentially represents the only growing demand for acetylene as a feedstock. This demand is reported (34) as growing from 54,000 metric tons of acetylene in 1989 to a projected level of 88,000 metric tons in 1994. 

Commercially available MEKP formulations are mixtures of the dihydroperoxide (1), where X = OOH R = H, R = methyl, and R = ethyl (2,2-dihydroperoxybutane [2625-67 ]) and dialkyl peroxide (2), where X = OOH, Y = OOH, R = methyl, and R = ethyl (di(2-hydroperoxy-2-butyl) peroxide [126-76-1J). These formulations are widely used as free-radical initiators in the metal-promoted cure of unsaturated polyester resins at about 20°C. 

Purified terephthahc acid became commercially available from Amoco Chemical Co. in 1965, by which time a considerable polyester industry based on dimethyl terephthalate had already developed. The Amoco process involves purification of cmde terephthahc acid by a separate step to attain the high product purity required for polyester manufacture. The Amoco technology is the most-used worldwide, but other processes have been developed and are operating commercially. 

The polymerization of tetrahydrofuran was first studied ia the late 1930s (3,4). In 1960, this work was summarized (4), and the Hterature on tetrahydrofuran polymers and polymerization has been growing ever siace. Polytetrahydrofuran with hydroxy end groups has become a large-scale commercial product, used mainly as the flexible polyether segment ia elastomeric polyurethanes and polyesters. It is commercially available under the trade names Terathane (Du Pont), Polymeg (QO Chemicals), and PolyTHF (BASF). Comprehensive review articles and monographs have been pubUshed (2,5-8). 

Polyesters. A variety of polyester blends are commercially available, and most of these are mbber-toughened, typically by the incorporation of... 

This mixture is known as Quinoline Yellow A [8003-22-3] (Cl 47000) and is most widely used with polyester fibers (109). Upon sulfonation, the water-soluble Quinoline Yellow S or Acid Yellow 3 [8004-92-0] (Cl 47005) is obtained. This dye is used with wool and its aluminum salt as a pigment. Foron Yellow SE-3GL (Cl Disperse Yellow 64) is the 3-hydroxy-4-bromo derivative. Several other quinoline dyes are commercially available and find apphcations as biological stains and analytical reagents (110). 

Adhesion. Commercially available 1- or 2-coat adhesive systems produce mbber failure in bonds between ethylene—acryflc elastomer and metal (14). Adhesion to nylon, polyester, or aramid fiber cord or fabric is greatest when the cord or fabric have been treated with carboxylated nitrile mbber latex. 

Global consumption of thermoplastic mbbers of all types is estimated at about 600,000 t/yr (51). Of this, 42% was estimated to be consumed in the United States, 39% in Western Europe, and 19% in Japan. At present, the woddwide market is estimated to be divided as follows styrenic block copolymers, 48% hard polymer/elastomer combinations, 26% thermoplastic polyurethanes, 12% thermoplastic polyesters, 4% and others, 9%. The three largest end uses were transportation, 23% footwear, 18% and adhesives, coatings, etc, 16%. The ranges of the hardness values, prices, and specific gravities of commercially available materials are given in Table 4. 

There are now commercially available a large range of laminated plastics materials. Resins used include the phenolics, the aminoplastics, polyesters, epoxies, silicones and the furane resins, whilst reinforcements may be of paper, cotton fibre, other organic fibres, asbestos, carbon fibre or glass fibre. Of these the phenolics were the first to achieve commercial significance and they are still of considerable importance. 

Operating conditions are important determinants of the choice of filter media and sealant used in the cartridges. Some filter media, such as cellulose paper filters, are useful only at relatively low temperatures of 95 to 150"C (200 to 300°F). For high-temperature flue gas streams, more thermally stable filter media, such as nonwoven polyester, polypropylene, or Nomex, must be used. A variety of commercially available sealants such as polyurethane plastic and epoxy will allow fabric operating temperatures up tol50°C (300°F). Selected sealants such as heat cured Plasitcol will withstand operating temperatures up to 200°C (400°F). 

Uses. There are about forty to fifty organic peroxides commercially available in more than seventy formulations designed for specific applications which include (1) initiators for vinyl monomer polymerizations, and copolymerizations of monomers such as vinyl chloride, ethylene, styrene, vinyl acetate, acrylics, fluoroolefms and buta-dienestyrene (2) curing agents for thermoset polyesters, styrenated alkyds and oils, silicone rubbers and poly allyl diglycol carbonates ... 

Polyarylates can be blended with a wide range of commercially available thermoplastics, including polyamides, polycarbonates, polyetherketones, polyesters, and poly(phenylene sulfide), thus broadening their application domain. 

Siloxane containing interpenetrating networks (IPN) have also been synthesized and some properties were reported 59,354 356>. However, they have not received much attention. Preparation and characterization of IPNs based on PDMS-polystyrene 354), PDMS-poly(methyl methacrylate) 354), polysiloxane-epoxy systems 355) and PDMS-polyurethane 356) were described. These materials all displayed two-phase morphologies, but only minor improvements were obtained over the physical and mechanical properties of the parent materials. This may be due to the difficulties encountered in controlling the structure and morphology of these IPN systems. Siloxane modified polyamide, polyester, polyolefin and various polyurethane based IPN materials are commercially available 59). Incorporation of siloxanes into these systems was reported to increase the hydrolytic stability, surface release, electrical properties of the base polymers and also to reduce the surface wear and friction due to the lubricating action of PDMS chains 59). 

Aliphatic polyesters based on monomers other than a-hydroxyalkanoic acids have also been developed and evaluated as drug delivery matrices. These include the polyhydroxybutyrate and polyhydroxy valerate homo- and copolymers developed by Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) from a fermentation process and the polycaprolactones extensively studied by Pitt and Schindler (14,15). The homopolymers in these series of aliphatic polyesters are hydrophobic and crystalline in structure. Because of these properties, these polyesters normally have long degradation times in vivo of 1-2 years. However, the use of copolymers and in the case of polycaprolactone even polymer blends have led to materials with useful degradation times as a result of changes in the crystallinity and hydrophobicity of these polymers. An even larger family of polymers based upon hydroxyaliphatic acids has recently been prepared by bacteria fermentation processes, and it is anticipated that some of these materials may be evaluated for drug delivery as soon as they become commercially available. 

The Material of the Example. Poly(ether ester) (PEE) materials are thermoplastic elastomers. Fibers made from this class of multiblock copolymers are commercially available as Sympatex . Axle sleeves for automotive applications or gaskets are traded as Arnitel or Hytrel . Polyether blocks form the soft phase (matrix). The polyester forms the hard domains which provide physical cross-linking of the chains. This nanostructure is the reason for the rubbery nature of the material. 

There are literally hundreds of flame retardants commercially available for nonwoven polyester and rayon. These can be subdivided into durable and nondurable. In this paper, non-durable means water soluble in room temperature water. Durable means able to withstand at least five washes in hot water with detergent. Flame retardants with performance somewhere in between, often called semi-durable, were not utilized in this study. Table III is a compilation of the flame retardants included in the study. Compositions include ... 

Disperse liquid brands of sulphur, vat or disperse dyes, including mixed formulations of disperse and vat dyes in matching hues for the dyeing of polyester/cellulosic blends, have been commercially available for many years. The proportion of reactive dyes marketed as aqueous solutions is expected to increase markedly [10] because of ... 

Similar materials, hyperbranched polyesters based on bis-MPA and a polyol are now commercially available [11] from Perstorp AB under the trade name Boltorn [12], Figure 8.1. The average number of hydroxyl groups per molecule can be tailored between 8 and 64 and molecular weight can be varied between c. 2000 and 11 000. The co-polymerization of bis-MPA and a polyol core keeps the molecular weight distribution fairly low, typically below 2. 

Although TMCD is not commercially available, technology for its preparation from isobutyric acid or isobutyric anhydride has been reported [79-83], A process for separation of the individual cis- and trans-isomers of TMCD has also been reported [84], TMCD is usually prepared with an approximate 50/50 cis/trans ratio, and this is the usual equilibrium isomer ratio used for polyester preparation, although polyesters prepared from other isomer ratios and from the pure m-isomer have been reported [77, 78],... 

Poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT) is a newly commercialized aromatic polyester. Although available in commercial quantities only as recently as 1998 [1], it was one of the three high-melting-point aromatic polyesters first synthesized by Whinfield and Dickson [2] nearly 60 years ago. Two of these polyesters, polyethylene terephthalate) (PET) and poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT), have become well-established high-volume polymers. PTT has remained an obscure polymer until recent times because one of its monomers, 1,3-propanediol (PDO), was not readily available. PDO was sold as a small-volume fine chemical at more than 10/lb., and was therefore not suitable as a raw material for commercial polymers. 

Polyether polyols are commercially available in a molecular weight range similar to those of unsaturated polyesters (a few thousands). 

The use of aliphatic monomers for hyperbranched polyesters has been debated because aliphatic monomers are said to be prone to thermal degradation reactions such as decarboxylation, cyclization, or dehydration [77]. The only commercial hyperbranched polymer is a hydroxy-functional aliphatic polyester, Boltorn, available from Perstorp AB, Sweden. 

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