Spinning the supercooled PET to obtain highly oriented and crystallized PET fibers at low speeds

An attempt has been made to investigate the feasibility for a novel concept of supercooled spinning to obtain orientation‐induced crystallization at speeds lower than that for the high‐speed spinning technology. This is achieved by setting the nozzle temperature lower than the melting point for PET, making the polymer a supercooled fluidic liquid, and then spinning the supercooled. The experimental results show that high orientation and high crystallinity can be achieved at a spinning speed of 2500 m/min, which is in good comparison with a speed of 5000–6000 m/min to obtain similar degree of orientation and crystallinity in the high‐speed spinning. The properties of the as‐spun fibers obtained by supercooled spinning were analyzed, and a rational theoretical account for the supercooled spinning is explored. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 3078–3082, 2006