Accelerated ultraviolet aging study of the Vectran fiber

Aging behavior of Vectran fiber exposed to ultraviolet (UV) radiation was investigated. Vectran fiber was subjected to UV‐accelerated degradation environment. Tensile strength of Vectran fiber was determined at room temperature using a two‐parameter Weibull distribution. The average tensile strength loss was 42.75% when the irradiation time reached 186 h. The surface morphology of the degraded fiber was examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and ¹³C‐NMR were used to provide a molecular characterization of fibers. SEM and AFM showed that UV exposure result in microvoids on the surface of fibers. The results of the XPS and ¹³C‐NMR indicated that the UV radiation could lead to chain scission of fiber surface layer. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012