| Abstract: | This paper is concerned with properties and processing performance of two thermotropic liquid crystalline polymers (TLCPs) produced by DuPont (HX6000 and HX8000) with widely varying melting points and blends of these two TLCPs. This work was carried out in an effort to develop a TLCP suitable for generating poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) composites in which the melting point of the TLCP was higher than the processing temperature of PET. Strands of the neat TLCPs and a 50/50 wt % TLCP–TLCP blend were spun and tested for their tensile properties. It was determined that the moduli of the HX8000, HX6000, and HX6000–HX8000 blend strands were 47.1, 70, and 38.5 GPa, respectfully. Monofilaments of PET–HX6000–HX8000 (50/25/25 wt %) were spun with the use of a novel dual extruder process. The strands had moduli as high as 28 GPa, exceeding predictions made using the rule of mixtures and tensile strengths around 275 MPa. The strands were then uniaxially compression molded at 270°C. It was found that after compression molding, the modulus dropped from 28 GPa to roughly 12 GPa due to the loss of molecular orientation in the TLCP phase. However, this represents an improvement over the use of HX8000. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 73: 2209–2218, 1999 |
