Abstract: Vectran fiber was subjected to heat treatments at different temperature to find out its heat resistance. The impact of temperature on the fiber′s tensile property and weight loss was investigated. The surface and chemical structure of the fiber were studied. The result shows that the heat resistance of Vectran fiber is good. Its tensile strength starts decreasing at about 250℃. The SEM photos suggest that strips would appear on the surface of Vectran fiber after being treated, and the depth of the stripes would increase by the higher temperature; it can be seen from the ATR-FTIR spectra that 1725cm^-1 and 1110cm^-1 are weaken by the high temperature, which attribute to C=O and C-O. The DSC shows that Vectran′s melting-point raises a little because of heat treatment. The reason mightbe that the high temperature maycause the movement of the end of the molecular chain, which lead the molecular tighter and shorter.

Key words: vectran fiber, thermal aging, tensile property, SEM, ATR-FTIR, DSC