Thermal degradation and isothermal crystalline behavior of poly(trimethylene terephthalate)

Poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT) is an excellent fiber material. Its thermal degradation and isothermal crystalline behaviors were in this study investigated using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), thermogravimetric analysis–Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (TGA–FTIR) analysis, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The thermal degradation mechanism of PTT follows Mclafferty rearrangement principle. The PTT with intrinsic viscosity (IV) of 0.74 dl/g has a maximum crystallinity of about 55% at 190 °C, as demonstrated by DSC and XRD measurements consistently.