Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Vol.71, No.8, 1283-1291, 1999
Properties of high-speed spun high molecular weight poly(ethylene terephthalate) filaments
High-speed spinning of high molecular weight poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) having an intrinsic viscosity of 0.98 dL/g was performed at the take-up velocity range of 2.5-5.5 km/min. The structure of the as-spun filaments was analyzed by density, birefringence, WAXS, DSC, boiling water shrinkage, and tensile properties. Stress-induced crystallization takes place above 3 km/min, which is confirmed by the steep increase in density, the growth of the crystal size, melting point increase, and the decrease in boiling water shrinkage. The plot of crystallinity versus birefringence shows that crystallinity increases drastically after birefringence reaches the value of about 0.075. A comparison with the data of other researchers will clearly present the effects of molecular weight on the properties of PET filaments spun at high speed, for example, the take-up velocity range of the steep increase in density for high molecular weight PET is lower than that for low molecular weight PET by about 1 km/min.