Study on the mechanical, rheological, and morphological properties of short Kevlar (TM) Fiber/s-PS composites

This article deals with oxy-fluorinated short Kevlar (TM) fiber reinforcement and its effect on the dynamic, mechanical, and rheological properties of the syndiotactic polystyrene composites. The composites were prepared using a twin-screw extruder at 20 rpm and the resulting composite was molded under injection molding. The study shows that the addition of oxy-fluorinated Kevlar (TM) fiber into the syndiotactic polystyrene matrix significantly affects the dynamic mechanical properties of the composite by appreciably increasing storage modulus. Rheological properties reveal a significant enhancement of viscosity of the treated composite, due to the formation of a strong interface between fiber and matrix. Oxy-fluorinated fiber incorporation leads to improved tensile strength, elastic modulus, and impact strength of the resulting composite as a result of better fiber-matrix adhesion at the interface.