Polyethylene terephtalate

PET Density 1370 kg/m3 Young modulus(E) 2800–3100 MPa Tensile strength(σt) 55–75 MPa Elongation @ break 50–150% notch test 3.6 kJ/m2 Glass temperature 75 °C melting point 260 °C Vicat B 170 °C Thermal conductivity 0.24 W/m.K linear expansion coefficient (α) 7×10−5/K Specific heat (c) 1.0 kJ/kg.K Water absorption (ASTM) 0.16 Price 0.5–1.25 €/kg source: A.K. van der Vegt & L.E. Govaert, Polymeren, van keten tot kunstof, 

Polyethylene terephthalate (aka PET, PETE or the obsolete PETP or PET-P) is a thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family. The chemical industry makes it. It is used in synthetic fibers; beverage, food, and other liquid containers; thermoforming applications; and engineering resins often in combination with glass fiber. It is one of the most important raw materials used in man-made fibers. It is also used as the dielectric in multi-purpose capacitors (K73-16 series).

Depending on its processing and thermal history, it may exist both as an amorphous (transparent) and as a semi-crystalline (opaque and white) material. Its monomer can be synthesized by the esterification reaction between terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol with water as a byproduct or the transesterification reaction between ethylene glycol and dimethyl terephthalate with methanol as a byproduct. Polymerization is through a polycondensation reaction of the monomers (done immediately after esterification/transesterification) with ethylene glycol as the byproduct (the ethylene glycol is recycled in production).

The majority of the world's PET production is for man-made fibers (in excess of 60%) with bottle-making accounting for around 30% of global demand. In discussing cloth uses, PET is generally referred to as simply "polyester" while "PET" is used most often to refer to packaging applications.


Category:Thermoplastics