Elastic Recovery of Biodegradable Poly (butylene succinate-co-butylene terephthalate) (PBST) Fibers

In this article, detailed investigations on the elastic recovery of biodegradable poly ( butylene succinate -co -butylene terephthalate) (PBST) which was melt-spun into fibers with take-up velocity up to 4,000 m/min have been implemented. The elastic recoveries of the biodegradable copolymer poly (butylene succinate-co-butylene terephthalate) (PBST) and other elastic polymers such as poly (trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT), poly (butylene terephthalate) PBT, and PET/PTT bi-component composite filaments were comparatively analyzed by a tensile testing machine. PBST fibers possessed lower initial tensile modulus and higher tensile elongation at break, which showed its better flexibility. The results of a comprehensive comparison of elastic recovery among these four elastic polyester filaments showed that the elastic recovery of biodegradable PBST filament was prominently superior to that of other elastic polymer filaments. Moreover, effects of stretch cycle times and elongation on the elastic recovery of biodegradable PBST filament were also discussed in the article.