Preparation and Properties of Composites of R-PET and Surface Modified Aramid Fiber

Phthalic anhydride was used to corrode the aramid fibers (AFs) in order to improve the interfacial compatibility between AFs and recycled polyethylene terephthalate (R-PET). Besides, the intrinsic viscosity and the mechanical properties of the composites of AFs/R-PET could be improved to realize the transformation from waste products to engineering plastics because phthalic anhydride was also the chain extender of R-PET. FE-SEM, XPS, DSC, TG and MFR were used to study the surface morphology and element contents of AFs and the impact fracture morphology, crystallinity and liquidity of the AFs/R-PET composites. The results show that the surface roughness of AFs and the surface oxygen content are increased with the increase of etching time. Compared with the pure R-PET, AFs/R-PET composites are easier to crystallize and the composites have higher bending strength and impact strength. The maximum intrinsic viscosity of the composites reaches 0.9343dL·g-1 and the mechanical properties achieve optimal values when AFs are corroded for 6h