Effects of crystallinity on solid‐state polymerization of poly(ethylene terephthalate)

Abstract

AbstractThere has been a widely held assumption that the solid‐state polymerization (SSP) rate of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) decreases with increasing crystallinity. Several published articles that purported to prove this assumption were based on faulty experiments. Therefore, a proper experimental procedure has been used to study the true effects of crystallinity on the SSP of PET. The results show that, for PET in pellet and powder forms, the SSP rate increases with increasing crystallinity. This is because an increase in the crystallinity results in increased end‐group concentration in the amorphous phase, where SSP reactions take place, and decreased concentrations of inactive end groups trapped inside the crystals, thereby increasing the rates of end‐group collision and reactions. These positive effects outweigh the negative effect of the increased byproduct‐diffusion resistance because of the increase in crystallinity. As the particle size of PET is increased beyond a critical value of about 7 mm, the SSP rate actually decreases with increasing crystallinity because of the excessively increased byproduct‐diffusion resistance within the PET particles. However, this critical particle size is far greater than the pellet sizes of commercial PET resins. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 623–632, 2006