subject: History of Polyethylene terephthalate [print this page] History of Polyethylene terephthalate History of Polyethylene terephthalate
Packaging as we know it today is the result of a long development process. It is the product of continuous research aimed at finding better methods of packaging the various goods we use, including our food, in order to ensure the best protection for them. One of the most commonly used plastics is polyethylene terephthalate (PETE). This material only became available for containers during the last two decades with its use for beverages entering the market in 1977. By 1980, foods and other hot-fill products such as jams could also be packaged in PET.
Two chemists named Rex Whinfield and James Dickson, working at a small English company with the quaint name of the "Calico Printer's Association" in Manchester, developed "polyethylene terephthalate" (PET or PETE) in 1941. It would be used for synthetic fibers in the postwar era, with names such as "polyester," "Dacron," and "Terylene."
PET is more impermeable than other low-cost plastics and so is a popular material for making bottles for Coke and other "fizzy drinks," since carbonation tends to attack other plastics, and for acidic drinks such as fruit or vegetable juices. PET is also strong and abrasion resistant, and is used for making mechanical parts, food trays, and other items that have to endure abuse. PET films, trade-named "Mylar," are used to make recording tape.You can get more information about plastic or PET at www.worldofplastic.net
Dupont's polyester research lead to a whole range of trademarked products, one example is Mylar (1952), an extraordinarily strong polyester (PET) film that grew out of the development of Dacron in the early 1950s.
According to Dupont Teijin Films, Plain polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polyester is most commonly associated with a material from which cloth and high-performance clothing are produced (e.g., DuPont Dacron polyester fiber). Increasingly over the last ten years PET has gained approvel as a material of preference for beverage bottles i.e. PETG, also known as glycolised polyester, is used in the production of cards... Polyester film (PETF) is a semi-crystalline film used in many applications such as videotape, high quality packaging, professional photographic printing, X-ray film, floppy disks, etc.
DuPont Teijin Films is a leading supplier of PET and PEN polyester films whose brand names incude:Mylar, Melinex , and Teijin Tetoron PET polyester film, Teonex PEN polyester film, and Cronar polyester photographic base film.
