Preparation of Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) Fiber by Dry Spinning: Drawing and Annealing

Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) was one kind of biodegradable polyesters which were produced by a large variety of bacterium. In this work, PHBV fiber was prepared by dry spinning, followed by drawing and annealing process. The mechanical and thermal properties were determined. Tensile strength increased and the melting point decreased monotonically with draw ratio, whereas. the elongation at break increased first, and then decreased. Strength of the annealed fiber increased with increasing annealing tension, while the melting point decreased slightly. The strength and elongation at break of the fibers drawn 5 times and annealed at 120 degrees C with the tension of 0.7cN/dtex could reach up to 4.7cN/dtex and 30% respectively.