Structure and Properties of Syndiotactic Polystyrene Fibers Prepared in High-speed Melt Spinning Process

High-speed melt spinning of syndiotactic polystyrene was carried out using high and low molecular weight poly­mers, HM s-PS and LM s-PS, at the throughput rates of 3 and 6 g/min. The effect of take-up velocity on the structure and properties of as-spun fibers was investigated. Wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) patterns of the as-spun fibers revealed that the orientation-induced crystallization started to occur at the take-up velocities of 2-3 km/min. The crystal modification was a-form. Birefringence of as-spun fibers showed negative value, and the absolute value of birefringence increased with an increase in the take-up velocity. The cold crystallization temperature analyzed through the differential scanning calorimetry (OSC) decreased with an increase in the take-up velocity in the low speed region, whereas as the melting temperature increased after the on-set of orientation-induced crystallization. It was found that the fiber structure development proceeded from lower take-up velocities when the spinning conditions of higher molecular weight and lower throughput rate were adopted. The highest tensile modulus of 6.5 GPa was obtained for the fibers prepared at the spinning conditions of LM s-PS, 6 g/min and 5 km/min, whereas the highest tensile strength of 160 MPa was obtained for the HM s-PS fibers at the take-up velocity of 2 km/min. Elongation at break of as-spun fibers showed an abrupt increase, which was regarded as the brittle-duc­tile transition, in the low speed region, and subsequently decreased with an increase in the take-up velocity. There was a uni­versal relation between the thermal and mechanical properties of as-spun fibers and the birefringence of as-spun fibers when the fibers were still amorphous. The orientation-induced crystallization was found to start when the birefringence reached -0.02. After the starting of the orientation-induced crystallization, thermal and mechanical properties of as-spun fibers with similar level of birefringence varied significantly depending on the processing conditions.