Polyester in 2010s: Cationic dyeable PET

The dominant apparel polymer — bottle-grade PET spun into staple that dries fast and sheds microfibres. Polyester is one of 32 materials in this atlas, grouped under textiles: history, structure, measured properties, process routes, uses, safety and market — not a product catalogue.

Scores compare Polyester with the rest of the atlas on strength, heat, fire behaviour, insulation, workability and circularity. They are editorial, not certificates. Seven chapters follow. Fire and insulation claims name test families (Euroclass, ASTM E84, ISO 5660, KS F) rather than inventing a single safety number.

Polyester ((C10H8O4)n PET) is a family of grades whose density ~1.38 g/cm³, heat band ~250–260 °C, and fire letter melts and drips unless FR. Polyester is sold as grades, not as a single substance. Chemistry (C10H8O4)n PET, density ~1.38 g/cm³, heat band ~250–260 °C. This atlas treats Polyester as a system: mill route, coatings, tests and the cavity it sits in.