The history of the development of polyester fiber

    Polyester (PET) fiber is a synthetic fiber spun from each chain link in the macromolecular chain through an ester group to form a fiber-forming polymer. In my country, fibers with a polyethylene terephthalate content greater than 85% are referred to as polyester for short. There are many foreign product names, such as Dacron in the United States, Tetoron in Japan, and Tetoron in the United Kingdom. Enka (Terlenka), Lavsan (Lavsan) in the former Soviet Union, etc.
    As early as 1894, Vorlander used succinyl chloride and ethylene glycol to prepare polyester with low relative molecular weight; in 1898, Einkorn synthesized polycarbonate; Carothers synthesized Aliphatic polyester: Most of the polyesters synthesized in the early years are aliphatic compounds, their relative molecular weight and melting point are low, and they are easily soluble in water, so they do not have the use value of textile fibers. In 1941, Whinfield and Dickson in England synthesized polyethylene terephthalate (PET) from dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) and ethylene glycol (EG). Fibers with excellent properties can be obtained by melt spinning. In 1953, the United States first built a factory to produce PET fiber. It can be said that PET fiber is a late-developed fiber among large-scale synthetic fibers.
With the development of organic synthesis, polymer science and industry, a variety of practical PET fibers with different characteristics have been developed in recent years. Such as polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) fibers and polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT) fibers with high stretch elasticity, fully aromatic polyester fibers with ultra-high strength and high modulus, etc.: the so-called The "polyester fiber" usually refers to polyethylene terephthalate fiber.
    Polyester fiber has a series of excellent properties, such as high breaking strength and elastic modulus, moderate resilience, excellent heat setting effect, good heat resistance and light resistance. The melting point of polyester fiber is about 255°C, and the glass transition temperature is about 70°C. It is stable in shape under a wide range of end-use conditions, and the fabric is washable and wearable. In addition, it also has excellent resistance (such as resistance to organic solvents, soap, Detergents, bleaches, oxidants) and good corrosion resistance, stable to weak acids, alkalis, etc., so it has a wide range of food and industrial uses. The rapid development of the petroleum industry has also provided more abundant and cheap raw materials for the production of polyester fibers. In addition, the development of technologies such as chemical engineering, machinery, and electronic self-control technology in recent years has gradually realized the short-term process of raw material production, fiber forming, and processing. Polyester fiber has become the fastest-growing and highest-yielding synthetic fiber variety. In 2010, the global polyester fiber output reached 37.3 million tons, accounting for 74% of the world's total synthetic fibers.