PTT's value as a commercial polymer has improved due to more economical and efficient methods to produce 1,3-propanediol in the 1980s by Degussa, via acrolein, and Shell via the hydroformylation of ethylene oxide.[3]DuPont has successfully commercialized the production of this polymer via 1,3-propanediol obtained by fermentation. These developments may allow PTT to effectively compete against PBT and PET, two polyesters that have been far more successful than PTT to date.
This polymer has been commercialized as Sorona by DuPont.
Applications
On Friday, March 20, 2009, the Federal Trade Commission approved a subclass to polyester called triexta.[4] The PTT fiber used in Mohawk's SmartStrand carpet, and branded Sorona by Dupont can be labeled triexta. Triexta has been reported to have several advantages over polyethylene terephthalate, including better stain resistance and softness.[5]
The FTC had last approved an extension for residential carpet in 1959. Mohawk Industries and DuPont applied jointly for FTC approval of the triexta polyester subclass in 2006; it was approved three years later.
References
^John Rex Whinfield and James Tennant Dickson (1941) "Improvements Relating to the Manufacture of Highly Polymeric Substances", UK Patent 578,079; "Polymeric Linear Terephthalic Esters", U.S. patent 2,465,319 Publication date: March 22, 1949; Filing date: September 24, 1945; Priority date: July 29, 1941