LAUSR

Abstract In order to prepare Polyethersulfone (PES) melt-spun fibers, epoxy (EP) oligomer was adopted as a novel plasticizer. The plasticization of EP on PES was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and rheological techniques. The results revealed that the glass transition temperature ( T g ), the complex viscosity ( η ∗ ), and melt processing temperature ( T mp ) of PES/EP blends decreased significantly with the increase of EP content. FTIR spectroscopy and rheological behavior demonstrated no signs of crosslinking reactions occurring between PES and EP molecules. Finally, PES melt-spun fibers were successfully obtained by using EP as a plasticizer, showing the highest tensile strength at 2.71 cN/dtex. The morphologies of the fibers observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) presented smooth and uniform surface, and compact fracture.