Novel Fine Structures in Poly-p-phenylenebenzobisoxazole Fibers Induced by Water Vapor, Hot Water, and Non-Aqueous Coagulation I Molecular Orientation Along the Fiber Axis and Fine Structures

Abstract

This article is concerned with describing novel structural features of the water vapor coagulated Poly-p-phenylenebenzobisoxazole fiber in comparison with other PBO fibers made with hot liquid water and non-aqueous coagulation. Micro-focus X-ray diffraction was adopted to see the skin-core difference of molecular orientation and crystal size along the fiber-radius direction. Low temperature differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was performed to elucidate the structural features of never-dried fibers made with the different coagulation techniques. Comparison of micro-focus X-ray diffraction profiles from the different positions on the fiber suggests less anisotropy of preferential orientation for the water vapor coagulated fiber. The fiber made through water vapor coagulation showed a large skin-core difference in molecular orientation with structural inhomogeneity along the fiber axis.