Preparation and study of polypropylene/polyethylene terephthalate composite fibres

In this paper, polypropylene (PP)/polyethylene terephthalate (PET) blends with PP-g-AA as a compatibilizer were investigated. The surface morphology of PP/PET/PP-g-AA blends was studied by means of SEM. The compatibilization of PP/PET blends was improved and the size of PET island components decreased remarkably, which can be demonstrated from that the compatibilized blends could easily be spun into fibres. The composite fibres were prepared and the morphology, thermal and mechanical properties of composite fibres were investigated. It was found that micro-fibres grow from PET island components, and the mechanical properties of the composite fibres could be potentially improved due to the enhancement of interface bonding efficiency, i.e. increase of friction between a fibre where the micro-fibres were grown and surrounded by materials. In the DSC examination, it was observed that PET could serve as heterogeneous nucleation agent which could benefit the crystallization of PP. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.