Polyester

Polyester is a category of polymers, or, more specifically condensation polymers, which contain the ester functional group in their main chain. Usually, polyester refers to cloth woven from polyester fiber. more...

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Polyester clothing is generally considered to have a "less natural" feeling to it compared to natural fibers. Polyester fibers are often spun together with fibers of cotton, producing a cloth with some of the better properties of each.

Although polyesters do exist in nature (e.g., in the cutin of the plant cuticle), polyester generally refers to the large family of synthetic polyesters (plastics) which includes polycarbonate and above all polyethylene terephthalate (PET). PET is one of the most important thermoplastic polyesters.

Polyester is combustible but due to its thermoplastic nature, it tends to shrink away from the flame source and often self-extinguishes.

Applications

Polyester is the most widely used manufactured fiber in the United States. Woven fabrics are used for apparel and home furnishings. These include bed sheets, bedspreads, curtains and draperies. Polyester used in knitted fabrics include shirts and blouses. Fiberfill is also used to stuff pillows, comforters and cushion padding. One such fabric is Crimplene.

Polyesters are used to make bottles, films, liquid crystal displays, holograms, filters, dielectric film for capacitors, film insulation for wire and insulating tapes.

Liquid crystalline polyesters are among the first industrially used liquid crystalline polymers. In general they have extremely good mechanical properties and are extremely heat resistant. For that reason, they can be used as an abradable seal in jet engines.

Thermosetting polyester resins are commonly used as casting materials, fiberglass laminating resins, and non-metallic auto-body fillers. In such applications, polymerization and cross-linking are initiated through an exothermic reaction involving an organic peroxide, such as methyl ethyl ketone peroxide or benzoyl peroxide.

Polyester is also widely used as a finish on high-quality wooden products like guitars, pianos and vehicle/yacht interiors (Burns Guitars, Rolls Royce and Sunseeker are examples of companies that use polyester on their products). The thixotropic properties of the sprayable form of polyester make it ideal for use on open grain timbers as it can quickly fill the grain and has a high build film thickness per coat. The cured polyester can then be sanded and polished to a high-gloss, durable finish.

History

Terylene was the first polyester fiber and was produced in England. It was brought to the U.S. in 1951 by DuPont under the trade name Dacron.

The first synthetic polyester, glycerine phthalate, was used in the First World War for waterproofing. Natural polyesters have been known since around 1830. The world's largest supplier of unsaturated polyester resin is Reichhold. Reichhold Website

Read more at Wikipedia.org