Trifunctional Trimethyl Citrate Modified Poly(ethylene terephthalate) with Enhanced Tensile Strength and Elongation
Shuai Sun, W. Sun, Ruiyu Zhang, Yifei Ding, Linghui Meng, Yongping Bai
Abstract
The reinforcement of thermoplastic polyester is very valuable in the fabrication of advanced films, specialty fibers, and engineering plastics. However, mainstream reinforcement strategies of inorganic filling are currently facing great drawbacks of thermoplasticity, transparency, and toughness loss. Here, we developed a one-pot achieving bulk-reinforced poly(ethylene terephthalate- co -trimethyl citrate) with exceptional mechanical properties, including a synergistically high tensile strength of 59.0 MPa and an elongation of 280%. In this way, the facile obtained copolyester is transparent and multiprocessable as well. The entire polymerization process is monitored and analyzed in detail. As a result, the mechanical enhancement is attributed to the enhanced entangling structures. This study provides an industrially achievable method for the inherent strengthening of polyester materials.