Preparation and characterization of cotton-like poly( ethylene terephthalate) fibers

The application of polyester fiber in the field of clothing is restricted because of its disadvantage such as low moisture absorption,easy accumulation of electrostatic charge,dying under high temperature and pressure. In order to improve the comfort of PET fibers,cotton-like PET fibers were prepared via purified terephthalic acid direct esterification with the incorporation of pentaerythritol at the first esterification stage and polyethylene glycol and titanium dioxide at the second esterification stage.The cross section of cotton-like PET fibers was designated to cross shaped structure during melting spinning process. The moisture absorption process, antistatic property and dyeing behavior were investigated. The results showed that the prepared cotton-like PET fibers had better moisture absorption behavior( 0. 93% measured at the condition of 20 ℃,65%) and antistatic property( 4. 23 × 108Ω·cm after 5 washes) compared with the unmodified ones. Besides that the cotton-like PET fibers had the characteristic of atmospheric boiling dyeing.