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A comparative study of in‐situ composite fibers reinforced with different rigid liquid crystalline polymers
Author(s) -
Pan Lihua,
Liang Borun
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-4628(19981031)70:5<1035::aid-app25>3.0.co;2-5
Subject(s) - materials science , composite material , composite number , spinning , polymer , thermotropic crystal , melt spinning , modulus , synthetic fiber , fiber , liquid crystalline
Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and 2 thermotropic liquid crystalline polymers (LCPs) with different chain rigidity were blended to make in‐situ composite fibers on a conventional melt spinning equipment. The addition of the LCP‐1 (60PHB–PET) with a less rigid chain has been found to lower the orientation of the as‐spun fibers while the LCP‐2 (VectraA900) with whole aromatic rigid chain has a reverse effect, as evidenced from the birefringence results. Both kinds of composite fibers with 5 wt % LCP have a good drawability. There is a diffraction peak characteristic of intermolecular packing of LCP on the wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction curve for the as‐spun fibers containing LCP‐2 but not the case for LCP‐1. The morphology formed during elongational flow is highly dependent on the composition and rigidity of LCP. For the dispersed phases of LCP‐1, it is relatively difficult to be elongated, whereas LCP‐2 dispersed phases will be easily deformed into fibrils during melt spinning. The mechanical properties of the blend fibers containing the LCP‐1 component are inferior to those containing the LCP‐2 component. For the fibers with discontinuous fibril morphology, a Halpin–Tsai equation could well be used to describe the elastic modulus of in‐situ composite fiber with LCP‐2. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 70: 1035–1045, 1998