Cold‐drawing behavior of naturally aged poly(ethylene terephthalate)

摘要

AbstractThe cold‐drawing behavior of naturally aged poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is investigated and an attempt is made to compare the mechanical behavior of unaged commercial PET and material which has been naturally aged for 11 years. Mechanical, viscometric, DSC and IR measurements are applied. The previously observed unusual ability of fresh PET bristles to be cold drawn up to 15:1 is not achieved for the naturally aged material. This fact is related to chemical cross‐linking occurring on the surface of bristles after drawing and thermal treatment. The cross‐linked skin is unsoluble, infusible, and uncrystallizable. The natural aging defeats the ability of PET to respond to external treatments which would otherwise change the internal structure. Such a “stabilization” of material properties is a result of the transformation, during natural aging, of the original physical network into a chemical network consisting of coval