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No.1(2006)4.Preparation of Polyester Fibers Using Post Consumer PET Bottles for Preventing Cyclic Oligomer Migration
Kiyoshi Yamamoto, Sigeru Fujita, Hiroshi Ito, Yutaka Kawahara
Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) recycled from post consumer bottles was used as a component of bicomponent polyester fibers to prevent cyclic oligomers from migrating to the fiber surface during a dyeing process. An analysis of cyclic oligomers using high performance liquid chromatography indicated that recycled PET contained only half as much cyclic oligomers as regular polyester fibers. From an analysis of the difference between the cyclic oligomer content of polyester fibers before and after heat treatment, it was found that cyclic trimer accounted for the majority of the oligomer migration, and the cyclic trimer migrated faster in high-speed spun fibers than in conventional spun and drawn fibers. High speed spinning was conducted to prepare sheath/core type bicomponent fibers consisting of recycled PET of high molecular weight, and virgin PET of low molecular weight. When the recycled PET was used as a sheath component in the bicomponent fibers, it provided an effective barrier to reduce the migration of cyclic trimer. An analysis of birefringence and Lorentz density demonstrated that the recycled PET component in the bicomponent fibers had higher oriented crystallization than single component fibers, which were prepared from a blend of the recycled and virgin PETs under the same high speed spinning condition.
Keywords
recycled PET, sheath/core type bicomponent fibers, cyclic oligomers, high-speed spinning, liquid chromatography