PETG is an amorphous copolyester. With the increase of CHDM in the copolymer, the melting point decreases the glass temperature rises, the crystallinity decreases, and finally forms an amorphous polymer. PETG is widely used in industry. GWELL has compiled the following documents for you to fully understand the characteristics, uses, and development prospects of PETG.
Generally, the content of CHDM in PETG is suitable for 30%-40%, and it has good viscosity, transparency, color, chemical resistance, and stress whitening resistance.
PETG can be quickly thermoformed or extrusion blow molded and has better viscosity than acrylic (acrylic). Its products are highly transparent, have excellent impact resistance, are especially suitable for forming thick-walled transparent products, have excellent processing performance, can be designed in any shape according to the designer’s intention, can adopt traditional extrusion, injection molding, blow molding, and blister molding methods, etc., can be widely used in the market of the plate, high-performance shrink film, bottle, and profile, etc., and its secondary processing performance is excellent, and can carry out conventional machining grooming.
01 Characteristics of PETG
PETG products have high transparency, good gloss, and glass texture. It is a brand new transparent engineering plastic with excellent impact strength, strong toughness, good heat resistance, good weather resistance, excellent chemical resistance, strong coloring strength, easy molding and processing, good hygiene (FDA compliant), and other advantages. It does not contain bisphenol A and belongs to a new generation of environmentally-friendly plastics.
Now, let’s get to know the four main grades of PETG: K2012, PN200, YF300, PN300, and the main uses of these four materials.
- K2012 – temperature resistance up to 70-80 degrees (use: mainly used for household daily necessities, medicine containers)
- PN200, PN300 — mainly used for cosmetic packaging containers
- YF300 – temperature resistance up to 100-110 degrees (use: mainly used for household daily necessities)
02 Main uses of PETG
(1) Plate, sheet
Transparent materials with a thickness of 1 to 25.4 mm can be prepared using the PETG sheet machine. The material has outstanding toughness and high impact strength, its impact strength is 3 to 10 times that of modified polyacrylates, excellent formability, non-whitening in cold bending, no crack, easy to print and modify, and is widely used in indoor and outdoor signs, storage racks, vending machine panels, furniture, construction and mechanical baffles, etc.
PETG material is applied to credit cards. Visa is one of the largest credit card companies in the world, with 580 million cards issued worldwide in 1998. The company has approved glycol-modified polyester (PETG) as its credit card material. PETG is an alternative to PVC for countries that require card materials to be more environmentally friendly. Visa also noted that results from three different test sites showed that PETG met all the requirements of the international credit card standard (150/IEC7810), so PETG cards could be widely used here.
(2) Profile
PETG can form pipes or various profiles. Its products are hard, transparent, glossy, non-whitening under pressure, easy to form and post-processing, meet environmental requirements, and are widely used in building decoration and materials.
Film: Specially used in high-performance shrink film, with a shrinkage rate of more than 70%, can be made into complex shape container packaging, with high blister strength, high transparency, high gloss, low haze, easy to print, not easy to fall off, low natural shrinkage rate during storage, used in beverage bottles, food and chemical; shrink labels for Lingpin shrink packaging and electronic products. Among them, the bi-directional PETG film is suitable for high-grade packaging, printing, electronic appliances, cable wrapping, insulation materials and high-quality substrates in various industrial fields. Unidirectional stretch PET and heat shrink film are suitable for external labels such as various cans, polyester bottles, and various containers. Compared with PVC shrink film, PETG shrink film also has the advantages of environmental protection.
Bottle use: Improve the low toughness of traditional polyester beverage bottles, especially suitable for manufacturing large-capacity thick-walled transparent containers, highly transparent, not easy to break, easy surface modification, and can be applied to food and medical products.
(3) Cosmetic packaging
PETG has glass-like transparency and density close to glass, good gloss, chemical corrosion resistance, impact resistance, and easy processing, and can be injection molded, injection molded and extruded. It also produces unique shapes, looks and special effects, such as bright colors, frosted, marble, metallic luster, etc. Other polyesters, elastomers, or ABS can also be used for overlapping plastic injection molding.
Products include perfume bottles and caps, cosmetic bottles and caps, lipstick tubes, cosmetic cases, deodorant packaging, powder bottles and eyeliner sets. PETG injection molded products include medical devices such as filters, ear pharyngeal tubes, tube connectors, pumps, clips, and dialysis equipment. Household utensils such as cups, salad bowls, salt shakers, pepper pots, etc., have excellent transparency, gloss, good toughness, processability and excellent colorability.
03 Prospects for the development of PETG
PETG can be processed into heat shrink film and various injection molded products. It is widely used in food packaging, cosmetics packaging, medical packaging and other fields. The average annual consumption growth rate in 2016-2020 is more than 10%. PETG, as an environmentally friendly material, meets FDA food contact standards, is non-toxic and harmless to humans and the natural environment. It does not produce unpleasant odors during heat processing, does not release toxic gases during incineration, and does not pollute groundwater sources after landfill treatment.
With the upgrading of consumer consumption, attention to health, environmental protection and high-quality products will continue to increase, which is conducive to the development of PETG in food packaging, cosmetic packaging and medical and health fields, especially traditional PVC heat