1946, the first patent for preparing PET was published in Britain, and ICI Company in Britain completed the pilot test in 1949. However, after purchasing the patent, DuPont Company of the United States set up a production device at 1953, which took the lead in realizing industrial production in the world. In the early days, PET was almost entirely used in synthetic fibers (commonly known as polyester and polyester in China). Since 1980s, PET has made a breakthrough as an engineering plastic, and successively developed nucleating agent and crystallization promoter. At present, PET and PBT, as thermoplastic polyester, have become one of the five major engineering plastics.
PET is divided into fiber grade polyester chips and non-fiber grade polyester chips. ① Fiber-grade polyester is used to manufacture polyester staple fibers and polyester filaments, and it is the raw material for processing fibers and related products in polyester fiber enterprises. Polyester is the largest variety of chemical fiber. ② Non-fiber grade polyester is also used in bottles, films and other fields, and is widely used in packaging industry, electronic appliances, medical and health care, construction, automobiles and other fields, among which packaging is the largest non-fiber application market for polyester and the fastest developing field for PET.