Gel spinning of UHMWPE fibers with polybutene as a new spin solvent

Gel spinning of UHMWPE fibers using low molecular weight polybutene (PB) as a new spin solvent was investigated. A 98/2 wt% PB/UHMWPE gel exhibits a melting temperature around 115°C and shows large-scale phase separation upon cooling the solution to room temperature. The resulting precursor fiber from this gel was hot-drawn to a ratio of 120, yielding a fiber with tensile strength of 4 GPa and Young's modulus of over 150 GPa. Wide-angle X-ray diffraction indicates good molecular orientation along the fiber axis. The results also demonstrate the potential to further improve the mechanical properties. With respect to the gel spinning industry, this new solvent has a number of advantages over paraffin oil and decahydronaphthalene, and holds a promise of greatly improving the process efficiency. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 56:697–706, 2016. © 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers