Synthesis of a novel polyester-ether copolymer and its derivatives as antistatic additives for thermoplastic films

Development of antistatic thermoplastic elastomer composites is gaining much interest in scientific and industrial aspects. In this contribution, a novel type of polyester-block-ether copolymer (PEBE), PEBE with ionic liquid (PEBE-IL) and quaternized PEBE (PEBE-Q) were synthesized, characterized and compounded with a commercial bottle grade polyester (PET) resin. It was found that the surface resistivity of the PET composite films was around 10⁹–10¹⁰ Ω/sq. The addition of the PEBE copolymers as an antistatic agent into PET matrix resulted in almost 10⁶ times enhancement in surface resistivity compared to neat PET film. Among the PET films with an antistatic agent, it was emphasized that PEBE-IL and ionic liquid doping to PET matrix led to a relatively lower crystallization degree, surface resistivity, contact angle and breaking force with a translucent appearance compared to neat PET film. Furthermore, it was illustrated that antistatic PET films with fine-tune physical, mechanical and morphological properties can be achieved by choosing appropriate antistatic agent type and amount.