Poly(ethylene Terephthalate) Guide

Polyethylene terephthalate (sometimes written poly(ethylene terephthalate)), commonly abbreviated PET, PETE, or the obsolete PETP or PET-P), is a thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family and is used in synthetic fibers; beverage, food and other liquid containers; thermoforming applications; and engineering resins often in combination with glass fiber.

Depending on its processing and thermal history, polyethylene terephthalate may exist both as an amorphous (transparent) and as a semi-crystalline material. The semicrystalline material might appear transparent (particle size < 500 nm) or opaque and white (particle size up to a few microns) depending on its crystal structure and particle size. Its monomer (bis-ß-hydroxyterephthalate) can be synthesized by the esterification reaction between terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol with water as a byproduct, or by transesterification reaction between ethylene glycol and dimethyl terephthalate with methanol as a byproduct. Polymerization is through a polycondensation reaction of the monomers (done immediately after esterification/transesterification) with ethylene glycol as the byproduct (the ethylene glycol is directly recycled in production).

The majority of the world's PET production is for synthetic fibers (in excess of 60%) with bottle production accounting for around 30% of global demand. In discussing textile applications, PET is generally referred to as simply "polyester" while "PET" is used most often to refer to packaging applications.

Some of the trade names of PET products are Dacron, Diolen, Tergal, Terylene, and Trevira fibers,[3]Cleartuf, Eastman PET and Polyclear bottle resins, Hostaphan, Melinex, and Mylar films, and Arnite, Ertalyte, Impet, Rynite and Valox injection molding resins. The polyester industry makes up about 18% of world polymer production and is third after polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

PET consists of polymerized units of the monomer ethylene terephthalate, with repeating C10H8O4 units. PET is commonly recycled, and has the number "1" as its recycling symbol....