Multiple-step drawing innovative ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene fibers modified with bacterial cellulose and scCO2-aid |
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Authors: | Yu Xiang Zhong-dan Tu Ting Lei Jia-xin Zhang Jen-taut Yeh |
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Affiliation: | Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory for the Green Preparation and Application of Functional Materials, Hubei Key Laboratory of Polymeric Materials, Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Hubei University, Wuhan, P. R. China |
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Abstract: | Innovative supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2)-assisted ultrahigh-molecular-weight-polyethylene (UHMWPE)/modified bacterial cellulose (MBC) as-spun fibers were found to display substantially lower dynamic transition temperatures than those acquired for scCO2-assisted UHMWPE or UHMWPE/MBC as-spun fibers prepared without scCO2-assistance or incorporation of MBC nanofibers. Multiple-step drawing methods were first-time applied to these finely ''relaxed'' scCO2-assisted UHMWPE/MBC fibers and considerably improved their achievable draw ratios (Dras), orientation factor (fos), and tensile tenacities (σtts). The best five-step drawn scCO2UHMWPE/MBC fiber displayed a particularly high σtt of 135 g d?1, which was ~35, ~3.75, and ~1.7 fold of σtts acquired for good steel fiber and the most appropriate single-step drawn scCO2-assisted UHMWPE and UHMWPE/MBC fibers, respectively. The particularly high Dras, fo, and σtts acquired for the best multiple-step drawn scCO2-assisted UHMWPE/MBC fibers is ascribed to their more ''relaxed'' UHMWPE structures, thinner lamellae, and successive increased drawing temperature in the multiple-step drawing processes. |
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Keywords: | crystallization fibers functionalization of polymers |
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