DETAILED KINETICS OF LIQUID-CRYSTALLINE COPOLYESTER SYNTHESIS - COPOLYESTERIFICATION BETWEEN POLY(ETHYLENE-TEREPHTHALATE), TEREPHTHALIC ACID AND HYDROQUINONE DIACETATE

The kinetics of liquid crystalline copolyester synthesis via melt tran sesterification between poly(ethylene terephthalate)[PET], terephthali c acid [TA] and hydroquinone diacetete [HQDA] is examined. A number of assumptions are proposed and validated to simplify the kinetics and t o make the analysis tractable. A key postulation is that the reaction originates between terephthalic acid [TA] and hydroquinone diacetate [ HQDA] to form a dimer which slices PET chain. The subsequent coupling of PET segments reforms PET chain with random incorporation of TA-HQDA units. Steady state approximation is invoked for the rate of generati on of dimer. The kinetic analysis reveals the implicit simplicity of c omplex systems.