Incorporation of polyethylene glycol into polyethylene terephthalate towards blue emitting co-polyester

In this work, fluorescent co-polyester was prepared by incorporating polyethylene glycol (PEG) segment into backbone of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The crystalline structures and fluorescence properties of obtained PET-PEG copolymers were systematically studied. It was found that the crystalline behaviour of PET was significantly alternated after incorporation of flexible PEG segment, meanwhile the ultrasmall sized carbon dots with blue emitting luminescence can be obtained from incorporated PEG segment, which contributed to the fluorescence property of resultant PET-PEG co-polyester solution and fiber. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.