1. Industrial saturated polyesters

Saturated polyesters are polymers resulting from the polyesterification reaction between diacids and diols, or from the reaction of a hydroxy acid with itself (or its lactone form). The monomers involved in this reaction do not contain any ethylenic double bonds likely to lead to cross-linked polymers (as opposed to unsaturated polyesters, the polycondensation of which is the subject of a separate article). .

However, trifunctional monomers (triols and/or dihydroxyacids) can also be introduced into the polymer chain to achieve specific molecular architectures, such as those found in hyperbranched polyesters.

In what follows, we shall confine ourselves to the category of saturated polyesters, classified as thermoplastic materials. The structure-property relationship thus defined is based on the relative chemical stability...