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A reactive melt modification of polyethylene terephthalate

A reactive melt modification of polyethylene terephthalate

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1.2 Applications and Limitations <strong>of</strong> Commercially Available PET<br />

1.2.1 Applications<br />

Principal commercial products <strong>of</strong> PET are fibers, bottles, and films. Among them,<br />

commodity fibers have provided the largest outlet for its consumption (Rodriguez, 1996).<br />

The current growth rate for PET bottles is around 15% whereas for fibers it is less than<br />

5%. Films have always been relatively small in production volume (about 10% <strong>of</strong> total<br />

PET), but they are used in high value added applications, such as audio and videotapes.<br />

There is one noteworthy difference between the method PET filaments and fibers<br />

are produced and that used for producing PET sheets, films, or bottles (Gupta and Bashir,<br />

2002). With filaments and fibers, direct shape forming is possible from the <strong>melt</strong>, while<br />

with films and bottles it is essential to first make an amorphous intermediate (sheet or<br />

preform) by quench cooling from the <strong>melt</strong>. Then the intermediate is s<strong>of</strong>tened by heating<br />

to a temperature —20-30°C above the glass transition temperature - T g, when it has<br />

enough strength to support itself but is pliable enough to be biaxially oriented. The<br />

combination <strong>of</strong> this two step process is called as injection-stretch-blow molding. Direct<br />

biaxial stretching <strong>of</strong> the <strong>melt</strong> is possible with polyolefins, but not with most <strong>of</strong> the PET<br />

resins because <strong>of</strong> their low <strong>melt</strong> elasticity/strength. Therefore, conventional film blowing<br />

and extrusion blow molding techniques, where biaxial stretching is applied to the <strong>melt</strong>,

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