Direct fluorination of Twaron fiber and the mechanical, thermal and crystallization behaviour of short Twaron fiber reinforced polypropylene composites

An experimental study of the incorporation of non-fluorinated and fluorinated Twaron fibers in polypropylene (PP) is presented. Surface modifications were made to Twaron fiber by direct fluorination technique using elemental fluorine in order to improve the interfacial adhesion between the fiber and matrix. Composites of PP/Twaron fiber (both Fluorinated and non-fluorinated) with 0.6%, 1.25%, 5% and 10% of Twaron fibers (w/w) were prepared by a solution method. Mechanical behaviour was estimated by the measurement of the tensile strength. The mechanical properties of PP improve significantly with the incorporation of Twaron fibers and fluorinated fiber composites show superior mechanical properties compared to the non-fluorinated system. The morphology was determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), showing good dispersion of the fibers. The thermal and crystallization behaviour of PP/Twaron fiber composites were studied by thermogravimetry (TG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The effect of fiber content and fiber surface treatments on the thermal properties was evaluated. DSC analysis exhibited an increase in the crystallization temperature and crystallinity, melting temperature upon the addition of fluorinated fibers to the PP matrix. This is attributed to the nucleating effects of the fiber surfaces. Also the thermal stability (from TG) and surface energy (determined from contact angle measurement) increased for fluorinated fiber composites. Surface modification of Twaron fibers leads to improved adhesion with the PP matrix and hence an improvement in properties of the Twaron fiber-PP composites. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.