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Susie Kirsh: Blog #6 - Research Initiatives

 Blog #6 – Research Initiatives

Cotton Testing

-       Bags of cottons brought in for conditioning

-       Samples are individually taken out and placed in trays

-       Air is conditioned so that the heat and humidity are similar to the air during testing

o   Done to create consistency among sample

-       Samples are then tested when they reach the right level (temperature)

-       Technician tests and pulls them into lab

-       Samples are tested in both small amounts and large amounts

-       Machine pulls out and combs the cotton and then is cut straight across, evenly

-       Then samples are checked again

Technical Polyester

-       Polyester

o   Produced from polyethylene terephthalate (PET polymer)

o   Molecular weight of PET polymer – 20,000-40,000

o   Raw materials for preparation:

§  Dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) or Terephthalic Acid (TPA)

§  Monoethylene Glycol (MEG)

-       Production

o   Two routes, each route consists of two step esterification process

§  Route 1: from Purified Terephthalic Acid (TPA)

§  Route 2: from Dimethyl terephthalate (DMT)

o   Two Steps:

§  Step 1: Transesterification or Direct esterification resulting in Prepolymer de-glycol terephthalate (DGT)

§  Step 2: DGT polymerized by polycondensation

o   Two Methods:

§  Bath Process – two separate autoclaves used: one for transesterification or esterification reaction and second for polycondensation process; production limited; cost of production is high

§  Continuous Process

A diagram of a flowchart Description automatically generated

 

 

 

o   Two Step Process

§  Advantageous

·        To keep the raw materials during polymerization in equimolar (1:1) proportion

·        Higher speed of reaction

·        Less side reactions

·        Better thermal stability of melt

·        Good color of polymer

·        Better drawability

-       Properties

o   Density (gm/cc) – 1.38

o   Moisture regain (%) – 0.4 at 65%rh

o   Breaking tenacity (gpd) – 3-10

o   Softening temperature (Celsius) – 225-230 degrees

o   Melting temperature (Celsius) – 255-265 degrees

o   Effect on Acids – good resistance to organic acids and inorganic acids at room temperature but degrades and dissolves in concentrated Sulfuric acid

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