Polyester (PET, Terylene/Dacron)
Poliéster (PET, Terylene/Dacron)
- Date
- 1941 · confidence high
- Place
- Manchester, England, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- John Rex Whinfield and James Tennant Dickson (Calico Printers' Association)
- Field
- Tools
What it is
A synthetic fibre of polyethylene terephthalate patented in 1941, later made by ICI (Terylene, 1953) and DuPont (Dacron). It is today the world's most-produced textile fibre.
Whinfield and Dickson, chemists at the Calico Printers' Association (Lancashire), followed Carothers's lines, whose aliphatic polyesters melted at low temperature; they used terephthalic acid. Industrial production began after the war (1946-1953).
What it led to
- wash-and-wear clothes that do not crease
- PET bottles and films (Mylar)
- cotton-polyester blends dominating fast fashion