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New Technology for Solid‐state Polymerization of Polymers: Polyethylene terephthalate–Solid‐state Polyaddition
Author(s) -
Al Ghatta Hussain,
Cobror Sandro,
Severini Tonino
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
polymers for advanced technologies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.61
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1099-1581
pISSN - 1042-7147
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1581(199704)8:4<161::aid-pat625>3.0.co;2-c
Subject(s) - polyester , materials science , condensation polymer , polyethylene terephthalate , solid state , polymer , flexibility (engineering) , crystallinity , rheology , polymerization , intrinsic viscosity , chemical engineering , polymer chemistry , polymer science , composite material , chemistry , engineering , statistics , mathematics
This article introduces the new M&G technology for Solid state polyaddition (SSPA) of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The new SSPA is characterized by the following: (1) It is based on a novel chemical process, SSPA. (2) It is suitable for high‐performance polyesters. (3) It enables separate control of many different key properties of the polyester (molecular weight, rheology, crystallinity, etc.). This intrinsic flexibility has already been exploited to produce tailor‐made polyesters suitable for most important applications in packaging and related fields. It is also a powerful tool for the upgrading of recycled PET. The SSPA reaction has a much faster kinetic than the standard solid‐state upgrading process so that accordingly the intrinsic viscosity (I.V.) built up in the solid state is much faster than that of solid‐state polycondensation. This raises the possibility of solid‐state upgrading at lower temperatures, where standard solid‐state polycondensation reactions are barely noticeable. The accelerating reactions used in this process could be utilized to de‐bottleneck the existing production plants in order to attain greater productivity, more flexibility, lower costs and higher quality. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.