Polypropylene terephthalate PPT

PTT is made by the melt polycondensation of PDO with either terephthalic acid or dimethyl terephthalate. The chemical structure is shown in Figure 11.1. It is also called 3GT in the polyester industry, with G and T standing for glycol and terephthalate, respectively. The number preceding G stands for the number of methylene units in the glycol moiety. In the literature, polypropylene terephthalate) (PPT) is also frequently encountered however, this nomenclature does not distinguish whether the glycol moiety is made from a branched 1,2-propanediol or a linear 1,3-propanediol. Another abbreviation sometimes used in the literature is PTMT, which could be confused with poly(tetramethylene terephthalate),... 

The superior properties of polypropylene terephthalate) (PPT) polymer and fibers over the chemically analogous poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET, used for soda bottles) and poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) have been well known for several decades PPT fibers are much more elastic and less brittle than PET and offer better recovery from stretching than PBT they are also easier to dye than either PET or PBT. Compared to the intermediate for PET, ethylene glycol, which is available inexpensively from ethylene oxide, and to that for PBT, butanediol, likewise available inexpensively from butene or butadiene, the intermediate for PPT, 1,3 propanediol (1,3-PPD or PDO), was not - and on a large scale is still not - available. Three processes, two chemical ones and one biotechnological, compete to change this situation (Figure 20.10). 

Pure aromatic polyesters, such as PET and PBT, and polyesters with high aromatic content, such as polypropylene terephthalate (PPT - also called polytrimethylene terephthalate, PTT) are not biodegradable, independent of the origin of the raw material they are based on (bio- or petro-based). 

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