Chen Kaikai

Fabrication and properties of FEP fibers by melt spinning method

ABSTRACT Poly(tetrafluoroethylene-co-hexafluoropropylene) (FEP) is a copolymer of tetrafluoroethylene (TFE) and hexafluoropropylene (HFP) which not only maintains the excellent properties of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) but also breaks the drawback of PTFEs hard melt-processability. In this study, FEP fibers were spun by melt spinning method using a single screw extruder. The obtained FEP fibers’ thermal and crystallization properties were investigated via DSC, XRD and DMA respectively. Results showed that FEP fibers’ melting temperature and crystallinity degree improved as the heat setting temperatures rising from 120℃ to 160℃. The melting enthalpy increased from 29.3 J/g to 31.5 J/g while the crystal temperature decreased from 233.8℃ to 232.1℃. The morphologies of FEP fiber showed that the grooves became light, and accompanied with the decrease of the fiber diameter when the nascent fiber suffered drawing.