Tensile properties of poly(ethylene terephthalate) and polyethylene in-situ microfiber reinforced composite formed via slit die extrusion and hot-stretching

This article dealt with the tensile properties of in-situ microfiber-reinforced composite (MRC) based on poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and polyethylene (PE). The MRC was prepared through slit die extrusion and hot-stretching, followed by injection molding at the processing temperature of PE matrix, far below the melting temperature of PET in order to maintain the formed microfibers. As expected, the tensile modulus and strength of PET/PE MRC can be significantly elevated at some composition. On the other hand, the reinforcement is heavily dominated by PET concentration;, neither low nor high PET content was desirable for reinforcement. Results from elongation tests showed that the ultimate elongation between the samples with mincrofiers and spherical particles at some PET concentrations was extremely different, which was illustrated by the model proposed in which great slippage between the particles and the matrix occurred for the system with spherical particles, whereas there was no slippage between the microfibers and the matrix for MRC. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.