Fiber intermediates can be further processed to produce polymers for synthetic fibers such as polyester and nylon. Alfa Chemistry can supply some common fiber intermediate products, such as p-xylene, cyclohexane, purified terephthalic acid (TPA), cyclohexanone, acrylonitrile, etc.
- Paraxylene
Paraxylene, also called p-xylene, is an essential chemical in the process of making polyester fibers. Paraxylene is widely used as a feedstock for the manufacture of other industrial chemicals, notably terephthalic acid (TPA), purified terephthalic acid (PTA), and dimethyl terephthalate (DMT). TPA, PTA and DMT are further used to make polyethylene terephthalate (PET) polyester, which is a polymer commonly used to make polyester fibers.
- TPA And PTA
The monomers used in the direct polyesterification reaction for PET synthesis are terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol (EG). The TPA-based process is shown in the figure below. The polymerization of TPA and EG into PET proceeds in two steps: transesterification and polycondensation. In the first step, TPA esterifies with an excess of ED, distilling water in order to shift the esterification equilibrium towards the product, i.e., hydroxyethyl end functionalized oligo-esters of PET. [1]
Synthesis of PET from TPA as the starting reactant.
- Acrylonitrile
Acrylonitrile is an important monomer for synthetic fibers, which can be prepared by radical vinyl polymerization to prepare polyacrylonitrile (PAN). PAN fiber is one of the important precursor fibers for the manufacture of polymer carbon fibers. In addition, copolymers containing polyacrylonitrile are also used as fibers for the manufacture of knitted garments, such as copolymers of acrylonitrile and methyl acrylate, namely acrylic fibers.
- Other Fiber Intermediates
To find more fiber intermediate products, please click on the product list or contact us to discuss your needs.
Reference
- Adel Elamri, et al. Polyethylene terephtalate uses, properties and degradation, Edition: 1Chapter: 3.
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