Polyesters and Polyamides

B L Deopura, R Alagirusamy, M Joshi, B Gupta

• Publisher: Woodhead Publishing
• Year: 2008
• Print ISBN: 9781845692988
• eBook ISBN: 9781845694609
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Materials Science
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Polyesters and polyamides remain the most used group of synthetic fibres. This authoritative book reviews methods of their production, ways of improving their functionality and their wide range of applications.The first part of the book describes raw materials and manufacturing processes, including environmental issues. Part two considers ways of improving the functionality of polyester and polyamide fibres, including blending, weaving, coloration and other finishing techniques as well as new techniques such as nanotechnology. The final part of the book reviews the range of uses of these important fibres, from apparel and sportswear to automotive, medical and civil engineering applications.With its distinguished editors and international team of contributors, Polyesters and polyamides is a standard reference for all those using this important group of fibres. - Reviews the chemical and physical properties of each fibre and their manufacture - Analyses how the functionality of polyester and polyamides can be improved - Provides examples of how the fibres are used in applications

Part I

Polyester and polyamide fundamentals

Outline

Chapter 1: Polyester resins

Chapter 2: Polyamide fibers

Chapter 3: Manufacture of polyester fibres

Chapter 4: Manufacture of polyamide fibres

Chapter 5: Poly(lactic acid) fibers (PLA)

Chapter 6: Environmental impact of polyester and polyamide textiles

1

Polyester resins

P. SANTHANA GOPALA KRISHNAN and S.T. KULKARNI, Futura Polyesters Ltd, Chennai, India

Publisher Summary

This chapter explains that among the polycondensation polymers, the most important and widely used today is polyesters, and equally important is polyamides. Polyesters can be processed by melt spinning, injection and/or blow molding, and film extrusion whereas polyamides can be processed by melt spinning and injection molding and extrusion. Polyesters are broadly classified into two types, namely: (i) thermoplastic polyesters and (ii) unsaturated polyesters, which upon curing form highly cross-linked thermosets. Polyesters were initially developed for coating applications and are commonly known as ‘alkyd resins’. The term ‘alkyd’ was coined by combining the first part of the word ‘alcohol’ and the last part of the word ‘acid’. Among polyesters, Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) would continue to be in the leading position for applications in packaging and textiles with more applications in ‘Technical Textiles’ in sectors of agriculture, building, geo, home, medical, packaging, etc. The future of the polyester industry, in particular commodity resin, depends on how effectively the industry recycles polyester scrap and how quickly the industry moves from oil-based resources to renewable resources. The effective recycling of polyester resin will also reduce carbon dioxide emission, which in turn would minimize global warming.

1.1 Introduction

Among the polycondensation polymers, the most important and widely used today is polyesters; and equally important is polyamides. Polyesters can be processed by melt spinning, injection and/or blow moulding and film extrusion whereas polyamides can be processed by melt spinning and injection moulding and extrusion. More details on polyamides are given in Chapter 2. Polyesters are widely used as packaging materials such as bottles/containers, film, and so on, and also as a fibre, filament, fabrics in textiles and as a base material for photographic film and recording tape applications. The term ‘polyester’ is used for polymeric materials containing ester groups in the polymeric main chains of macromolecules and not to the ester groups in the side chains of the macromolecules, as in the case of poly(vinyl acetate) (or) poly(methyl methacrylate), etc. The term ‘polyester’ is applicable to products derived from dicarboxylic acids and diols. However, the term is not restricted to derivatives of dicarboxylic acids but also to other types of acids such as phosphonic (or) sulphonic (or) phosphoric acids. This chapter is restricted to polyesters derived from dicarboxylic acids and diols alone. Chemical structures of various dicarboxylic acids and diols that are used to make polyesters or copolyesters are given in Table 1.1. Even though large number of polyesters and copolyesters can be prepared by varying dicarboxylic acids and diols and by varying the content of comonomers, only some of them are commercialised and trade names of these polyesters are listed in Table 1.2. Some of the major polyester manufacturers and their capacity are listed in Table 1.3. Even though polyesters have many useful properties, they are blended or alloyed with other polymers to overcome some of the polyester shortcomings. Table 1.4 shows the list of trade names of some of the commercialised polyester blends or alloys.

Table 1.1

Chemical structure of various dicarboxylic acids/diols

Dicarboxylic acid/Diol	Structure
Terephthalic acid
Isophthalic acid
2,6-Naphthalene dicarboxylic acid
Lactic acid
Monoethylene glycol
1,3-Propane diol
1,4-Butane diol
1,4-Cyclohexane dimethanol

Table 1.2

List of trade names of polyesters

Polyester	Trade name	Company	Form
PET	Amilar
	Blue C	Monsanto Co.	Fibre
PET	Dacron	DuPont	Fibre
PET	Daiya foil
PET	Diolen	Glanzstoff AG	Fibre
PET	Dowlex
	Encron	American Enka Corp	Fibre
PET	Fiber V		Fibre
	Fortrel	Fiber Industries Inc	Fibre
PET	Grisuten	VEB Chemiefaserwerk	Fibre
PET	Hostadur
PET	Hostphan	Hoechst	Film
	Kodel	Eastman Chemical Products, Inc	Fibre
PET	Kuraray	Kurashiki Rayon KK	Fibre
PET	Lavsan
PET	Lawsonite
PET	Melinex	ICI	Film
PET	Mersilene
PET	Nitiray	Nippon Ester Co. Ltd	Fibre
PET	Nitron lavsan
PET	Eastapak	Eastman
PET	Melinar	ICI
PET	Impet	Ticona (Hoechst)	Engg. Glass filled
	Toyobo	Toyobo Co. Ltd	Fibre
PET	Caripak	Shell
	Lavsan	USSR Government	Fibre
PET	Mylar	DuPont	Film
	Okson	USSR Government	Fibre
	Quintess	Phillips Fibers Co...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• The Textile Institute and Woodhead Publishing
• Copyright
• Contributor contact details
• Woodhead Publishing in Textiles
• Part I: Polyester and polyamide fundamentals
• Part II: Improving functionality of polyesters and polyamides
• Part III: Applications of fibrous polyesters and polyamides
• Index