Polyethylene Terephthalate - Degradation

Degradation

PET is subject to various types of degradations during processing. The main degradations that can occur are hydrolytic, thermal and, probably most important, thermal oxidation. When PET degrades, several things happen: discoloration, chain scissions resulting in reduced molecular weight, formation of acetaldehyde, and cross-links ("gel" or "fish-eye" formation). Discoloration is due to the formation of various chromophoric systems following prolonged thermal treatment at elevated temperatures. This becomes a problem when the optical requirements of the polymer are very high, such as in packaging applications. The thermal and thermooxidative degradation results in poor processibility characteristics and performance of the material.

One way to alleviate this is to use a copolymer. Comonomers such as CHDM or isophthalic acid lower the melting temperature and reduce the degree of crystallinity of PET (especially important when the material is used for bottle manufacturing). Thus, the resin can be plastically formed at lower temperatures and/or with lower force. This helps to prevent degradation, reducing the acetaldehyde content of the finished product to an acceptable (that is, unnoticeable) level. See copolymers, above. Another way to improve the stability of the polymer is to use stabilizers, mainly antioxidants such as phosphites. Recently, molecular level stabilization of the material using nanostructured chemicals has also been considered.