Poly(ethylene terephthalate) copolymers containing 1,4-cyclohexane dicarboxylate units

Poly(ethylene terephthalate-co-1,4-cyclohexane dicarboxylate) copolymers, abbreviated as PETCHD, containing from 2 up to 40 mole% of the cycloaliphatic diacid, as well as the two parent homopolymers, PET and PECHD, were prepared from comonomer mixtures by a two-step melt-polycondensation procedure. Polymer intrinsic viscosities varied from 0.6 to 0.8 dL g−1 with weight-average molecular weights spanning in the range from 30,000 to 70,000. The copolymers were found to have a random microstructure and a composition according to that used in their corresponding feeds. Thermal and mechanical properties of PETCHD were evaluated as a function of composition. Copolymers were found to be crystalline for all examined compositions although they crystallize from the melt only when the cycloaliphatic comonomer composition was below 20 mole%. Both melting and glass transition temperatures of the copolyesters decreased rapidly with the content in CHD units, whereas the thermal stability appeared to be barely affected by copolymerization. Incorporation of 1,4-cyclohexane dicarboxylate units increased the Young’s modulus and the maximum tensile strength of these materials but elongation to break drastically diminished. Preliminary X-ray diffraction studies revealed that PETCHD copolyesters seem to adopt the same crystal structure as PET.