Antistatic modification of polyester with carboxyterminated poly(oxyethylene)

Carboxy‐terminated poly(oxyethylenes) (PEO‐acid) with number‐average molecular weights M n = 8400, 3300, and 1000 were used for antielectrostatic modification of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET). The blend PET fibers containing 2.0 and 5.0 wt.‐% of PEO‐acids were melt‐spun at 285°C with an ordinary extruder and then drawn about 4.5‐fold at 80°C. The processabilities of spinning and drawing were excellent at higher molecular weights of PEO‐acid. The anti‐electrostatic properties of the blend fibers became also improved with increasing molecular weight of PEO‐acid. Since little ester interchange reaction took place between PET and PEO‐acid during meltspinning, the blend fibers could retain almost the same mechanical properties as the original PET fiber.