Introduction

Polyester is a category of polymers which contain the ester functional group in

their main chain.
Polyester is one of the most important classes of polymers in use today. Hundreds
of polyesters
exist although only about a dozen are of commercial significance. Although there
are many types of
polyester, the term "polyester" as a specific material most commonly refers to
polyethylene
terephthalate (PET). Other types of polyester mainly include Polybutylene
terephthalate (PBT),
PTT, polyarylate and so on.
Polyethylene terephthalate, commonly abbreviated PET, PETE, or the obsolete PETP or
PET-P,
is a thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family. The applications of
Polyethylene
terephthalate (PET) can be divided into three major categories: fiber, bottles, and
industrial use. It
can be used in synthetic fibers; beverage, food and other liquid containers;
thermoforming
applications; film, plastic and engineering resins often in combination with glass
fiber. The two
widely used applications are PET fabrics and PET bottles.
Preparation of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)
Research Background The raw materials to make PET are monoethylene glycol (MEG) and
purified terephthalic acid (PTA) or dimethyl terephthalate (DMT). High purity is
required of all raw
materials.
In either case, the first step of the reaction is the formation of a prepolymer,
bis-hydroxyethyl
terephthalate (bis-HET). Subsequent polymerization of this material (with the
removal of
monoethylene glycol) forms the polymeric polyethylene terephthalate. The extent of
polymerization
(apparent from the molecular weight of the polymer) is a function of the
polymerization conditions
and significantly affects the properties of the resin that is produced.
Until the mid-1960s, DMT had been the preferred feedstock for PET manufacture,
partly
because the ester could generally be made in purer form than the acid. With the
development of
high-purity terephthalic acid processes, the free acid gained acceptance and is now
the preferred
feedstock. The use of high purity terephthalic acid (purified terephthalic acid -
PTA) eliminates the
need to recover or recycle methanol and has the added advantage that esterification
to the
prepolymer is considerably more rapid than the transesterification reaction, which
is the first step
when starting from DMT. Although PTA is the preferred feedstock for process
economic reasons,
the DMT process is still in commercial use, especially in polyester film
applications due its
adhesion addition quality; however, no process description or economics are
presented in this
report. Using PTA and MEG to produce PET has been the mostly used process in
nowadays