Synthesis of a novel polyester-ether copolymer and its derivatives as antistatic additives for thermoplastic films

Abstract

Development of antistatic thermoplastic elastomer composites is gaining much interest in scientific and industrial aspects. In this contribution, a novel type of polyester-block-ether copolymer (PEBE), PEBE with ionic liquid (PEBE-IL) and quaternized PEBE (PEBE-Q) were synthesized, characterized and compounded with a commercial bottle grade polyester (PET) resin. It was found that the surface resistivity of the PET composite films was around 109–1010 Ω/sq. The addition of the PEBE copolymers as an antistatic agent into PET matrix resulted in almost 106 times enhancement in surface resistivity compared to neat PET film. Among the PET films with an antistatic agent, it was emphasized that PEBE-IL and ionic liquid doping to PET matrix led to a relatively lower crystallization degree, surface resistivity, contact angle and breaking force with a translucent appearance compared to neat PET film. Furthermore, it was illustrated that antistatic PET films with fine-tune physical, mechanical and morphological properties can be achieved by choosing appropriate antistatic agent type and amount.