Patent ID: 7094863

Claim:
A polyethylene terephthalate preform that can be formed into a hot-fill bottle having excellent color, clarity, and shrinkage properties, comprising: polyethylene terephthalate polymers including between about 2 and 6 mole percent comonomer substitution; between about 2 and 20 ppm of elemental titanium; and less than 50 ppm of elemental antimony, if any; wherein the polyethylene terephthalate preform has a heating crystallization exotherm peak temperature (T CH ) of more than about 140° C. at a heating rate of 10° C. per minute as measured by differential scanning calorimetry; wherein the polyethylene terephthalate preform has an absorbance (A) of at least about 0.18 cm −1 at a wavelength of 1100 nm or at a wavelength of 1280 nm; and wherein the polyethylene terephthalate preform has an L* value of more than about 70 as classified in the CIE L*a*b* color space.