Disclosure of Invention
Technical problem to be solved
In view of the above, the present inventors have desired to provide an ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber and a method for preparing the same, which overcome the problems of the prior art. The ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber can be woven into cutting-proof gloves or cutting-proof protective clothing and the like, high-strength protective performance and better wearing comfort are realized, the dyeing property of zero number is easy, meanwhile, abrasion and damage to production equipment can be avoided, the production cost is saved, and the performance timeliness of the cutting-proof gloves or the cutting-proof protective clothing is prolonged.
(II) technical scheme
In order to achieve the purpose, the invention adopts the main technical scheme that:
in one aspect of the application, an ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber is provided, which comprises an ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene matrix and boron nitride micron-sized short fibers dispersed in the matrix, wherein the content of the boron nitride micron-sized short fibers is 0.25-20 wt%
Typically, but not by way of limitation, the boron nitride micro-sized staple fibers are present in the ultra high molecular weight polyethylene-containing matrix in an amount of 0.25 wt%, 0.5 wt%, 1 wt%, 1.2 wt%, 1.5 wt%, 2.0 wt%, 2.5 wt%, 3.0 wt%, 3.5 wt%, 4.0 wt%, 4.5 wt%, 5.0 wt%, 5.5 wt%, 6.0 wt%, 6.5 wt%, 7.0 wt%, 7.5 wt%, 8.0 wt%, 8.5 wt%, 9.0 wt%, 9.5 wt%, 10.0 wt%, 12 wt%, 14 wt%, 16 wt%, 18 wt%, or 20 wt%. Tests show that: generally, when the content of the boron nitride micron-sized short fibers is more than 7%, the cutting grade is more than 5; among them, 8-11% of the cut resistance can be very good, and 4-5.5% is on the cut-proof level 4. However, the higher the content of the boron nitride micron-sized short fibers is, the greater the production difficulty is, the poorer the spinnability of the prepared polyethylene fiber yarns is, and therefore, the preferred content of the boron nitride micron-sized short fibers is 5-12 wt%.
If the content of the boron nitride micron-sized short fibers is too high, the specific gravity of the polyethylene matrix is too low, the spinnability of the prepared ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber is poor (the fiber is easy to break in the spinning process), and if the content of the boron nitride micron-sized short fibers is too low, the purpose of increasing the anti-cutting performance cannot be achieved.
The commonly prepared boron nitride is of a graphite type structure, commonly called white graphite, and the natural color of the boron nitride is white, so that the dyeing property of the ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene fiber is not influenced. The cubic boron nitride is a novel high-temperature-resistant superhard material used for manufacturing drill bits, grinding tools and cutting tools, and can be converted into diamond-type boron nitride under the conditions of high temperature (1800 ℃) and high pressure (800Mpa), similar to the principle that graphite is converted into diamond. The boron nitride used in the invention mainly refers to stereo boron nitride, and some graphite type boron nitride (such as mass ratio of 6-8: 4-2) can be doped. The boron nitride has certain self-lubricating property, the friction coefficient of the hexagonal boron nitride is as low as 0.16, and the hexagonal boron nitride can be used as a lubricant in some occasions. Due to the self-lubricating property, the friction loss effect on preparation equipment can be reduced, and the service life of the equipment is prolonged.
The diameter of the boron nitride micron-sized short fiber is preferably 0.1-20 μm, and more preferably 5-12 μm; the length of the boron nitride micron-sized short fibers is preferably 1 to 180 μm, more preferably 50 to 100 μm; and the shape of the boron nitride micron-sized short fiber is long rod-shaped particles with the length larger than the diameter. Compared with powdery boron nitride, the fibrous boron nitride has better anti-cutting performance for the prepared ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber. The inorganic micro powder mainly plays a role of a physical cross-linking point in the fiber, and the improvement of the cutting resistance of the fiber is realized by limiting the slippage between macromolecular chains of the polyethylene fiber, but the inorganic micro powder is more prone to be squeezed to one side by a blade edge instead of resisting the damage of the blade edge in the fiber cutting process of the blade, so the improvement degree of the cutting resistance is limited. The fibrous boron nitride has no problem of being squeezed to one side by a blade, and can play a better role in cutting resistance.
However, the boron nitride micron-sized short fibers are inorganic fillers, the affinity with the polyethylene matrix is poor, the pure boron nitride micron-sized short fibers cannot be well dispersed when being added into the polyethylene matrix, the dispersion uniformity and firmness of the boron nitride micron-sized short fibers in the matrix have great influence on the properties of finally prepared polyethylene fiber yarns, and the boron nitride micron-sized short fibers are not good in binding force with ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibers under the condition of poor affinity, are easy to fall off or pull out in the spinning and stretching processes, and influence on the cutting resistance.
Therefore, further, in order to improve the affinity and dispersibility between the boron nitride micron-sized short fibers and the polyethylene matrix, the invention adopts one or more of the following modes:
the first method is as follows: modifying the boron nitride micron-sized short fibers by using a coupling agent;
the second method comprises the following steps: coating modification, namely coating a high molecular polymer on the surface of the boron nitride micron-sized short fiber;
the third method comprises the following steps: mixing the boron nitride micron-sized short fibers and boron nitride particles for use, wherein the crossed positions or gaps of the short fibers are supplemented by the boron nitride particles;
the method is as follows: the EVA (ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer) is doped into the ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, and the dispersibility of the boron nitride micron-sized short fibers in the matrix material can be obviously improved by doping the EVA;
the fifth mode is as follows: a plurality of tiny micropores (mostly nano micropores) can be formed on the surface of the short fiber, so that on one hand, the specific surface area of the boron nitride micron-sized short fiber can be increased, and the bonding tightness between the boron nitride micron-sized short fiber and the ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene is improved; on the other hand, compared with the boron nitride micron-sized short fiber without micropores, the boron nitride micron-sized short fiber has better flexibility which is comparable with that of carbon fiber, and is beneficial to improving the spinnability of the finally prepared anti-cutting ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene fiber and the softness, the fitting property and the wearability of a woven glove; the boron nitride fiber with better flexibility is not easy to puncture the polyethylene substrate along with the repeated bending use of the polyethylene fiber wire to cause the pulling-out of the polyethylene substrate, and has less damage to equipment.
The specific method of the first mode can be as follows: dissolving the boron nitride micron-sized short fibers in 1-5mol/L sodium hydroxide solution, stirring for 10-20h at 110-120 ℃, performing suction filtration, washing with deionized water, and drying to obtain activated boron nitride micron-sized short fibers with hydroxylated surfaces; preparing acetone and dilute hydrochloric acid with the pH value of 2-4 into a solution according to the volume ratio of 6-10:1, adding a coupling agent into the solution, hydrolyzing at 40-60 ℃ for 0.5-1h, adding activated boron nitride micron-sized short fibers into the solution, continuously stirring for 2-5h, and drying to obtain the modified boron nitride micron-sized short fibers. Wherein the coupling agent is KH570 or CAI, and the coupling agent accounts for 1-10% of the raw material of the boron nitride micron-sized short fiber.
The specific method of the second mode can be as follows: heating the boron nitride micron-sized short fiber raw material to 250-350 ℃, adding mixed resin and stirring to form a mixture, adding a dispersing agent and stirring before the mixture starts to agglomerate, and adding a curing agent and an accelerant and stirring; cooling the materials to 40-90 ℃, transferring the materials to a crusher for crushing, and finally sieving the materials for 200 meshes and 1000 meshes to obtain the modified boron nitride micron-sized short fibers coated with the high molecular polymer; the dispersing agent is one or more of polyethylene wax, stearic acid amide, ethylene bis-stearamide, calcium stearate, zinc stearate, liquid paraffin and silicone oil; the accelerant is mica powder, DDM, DMP-30, CaO and TiO2One or more of; the curing agent is one or more of imidazole, acid anhydride, Lewis acid, hexamethylenetetramine and ethyl orthosilicate compounds; the high molecular polymer can be phenolic resin, polyurethane resin, EVA and the like. Wherein the dosage of the dispersant is 0.02-0.05% of the mass of the boron nitride micron-sized short fiber raw material; the dosage of the curing agent is 0.1-0.5% of the mass of the boron nitride micron-sized short fiber raw material; the dosage of the accelerant is 0.1-1% of the mass of the boron nitride micron-sized short fiber raw material.
The third method can be as follows: the median particle size of the boron nitride particles is 0.1-12 mu m, and the mass ratio of the boron nitride micron-sized short fibers to the boron nitride particles is 5-20: 1. Before mixing with the ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene master batch, the boron nitride micron-sized short fibers and the boron nitride particles can be premixed in a dry state, the boron nitride particles are adsorbed on the surfaces of the boron nitride micron-sized short fibers, the surface roughness of the boron nitride micron-sized short fibers is effectively improved, the surface potential is increased, the bonding force with the ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene fiber interface is enhanced, and the cutting resistance of the fiber is improved. The method has the advantages that boron nitride particles are introduced on the basis of the boron nitride micron-sized short fibers, so that the effect of obvious reinforcement and toughening is achieved, firstly, in the stretching process of the ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibers, the boron nitride particles generate a stress concentration effect to excite surrounding matrixes to generate silver lines, and meanwhile, the matrixes among the particles generate yield to absorb certain deformation work, so that the toughening effect is achieved; secondly, the existence of the boron nitride particles can resist and passivate the crack propagation of the ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber matrix, play a role of a physical cross-linking point and show fiber reinforcement; thirdly, the existence of the micro-nano particles enables the average size of crystal grains of the ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber to be obviously reduced, thereby being beneficial to improving the modulus. The ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber finally shows enhanced mechanical property, and can improve the cutting resistance.
The fourth way can be: the boron nitride is more inclined to be dispersed in the EVA, and the EVA has good affinity with the ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene and can be well mixed and mutually dissolved, so that the dispersibility of the boron nitride micron-sized short fibers in the ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibers can be enhanced by adding a certain proportion of the EVA. Preferably, the mass ratio of the EVA to the ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene is 1:20-30, and the EVA becomes a solid dispersant of the boron nitride.
The implementation of the fifth mode can be as follows: using boric acid and melamine as raw materials, carrying out hydrothermal synthesis on melamine diboric acid precursor powder, then adopting a freeze-drying method to rapidly cool a hot water solution of the melamine diboric acid precursor by using liquid nitrogen, and then drying to synthesize melamine diboric acid fibers; and then thermally cracking the melamine diboronic acid fiber at high temperature under a protective atmosphere to obtain the porous boron nitride fiber. Or taking nitrogen compound, boron compound and pore-forming agent as raw materials, dissolving and mixing the raw materials by water, heating the raw materials in water bath under violent stirring to form a mixture of boride and nitride, dehydrating and drying the mixture to obtain a boron nitride fiber precursor, then loading the precursor into a corundum fire boat, putting the corundum fire boat into a vacuum tube furnace, carrying out pyrolysis at a certain temperature for a certain time in a flowing nitrogen atmosphere, heating and carrying out heat treatment on the pyrolysis product in a muffle furnace at a certain temperature for a certain time to remove possible free carbon and the like, thus obtaining the boron nitride fiber with micropores, wherein the specific surface of the prepared porous boron nitride fiber can reach 450m2g-1The above.
Preferably, the first mode and the fourth mode can be jointly adopted, or the first mode and the third mode can be jointly adopted; the second mode can be used alone, and the fourth mode can be used alone. The combined use of the third mode and the fourth mode can also have good effect, and the process is simpler, the production cost is higher, and the process period is shorter.
Based on the above, the invention also relates to a preparation method of the ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber, which comprises the following steps:
s1, mixing the boron nitride micron-sized short fibers with ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene powder with the molecular weight of 20-600 ten thousand, and then heating and swelling the mixture in a spinning solvent to obtain a mixed material; or:
dispersing boron nitride in a spinning solvent in advance, adding a surfactant, mixing to prepare an emulsified material, then dispersing ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene powder with the molecular weight of 20-600 ten thousand in the spinning solvent, stirring, adding the emulsified material, stirring again, heating and swelling to obtain a mixed material;
s2, blending and extruding the mixture through an extruder, cooling and forming through a coagulating bath to obtain nascent fibers, and extracting, drying and carrying out multistage hot drawing on the nascent fibers to obtain ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene fibers; wherein the content of the boron nitride micron-sized short fibers is 0.25-20 wt%.
According to the preparation method, the diameter of the boron nitride micron-sized short fiber is 0.1-20 μm, the length of the boron nitride micron-sized short fiber is 1-180 μm, and the shape of the boron nitride micron-sized short fiber is long rod-shaped particles with the length larger than the diameter. More preferably, the boron nitride micro-sized short fibers preferably have a diameter of 5 to 12 μm and a length of 50 to 100 μm. For example, the boron nitride micro-sized staple fibers may have a diameter of 5 μm, 6 μm, 7 μm, 8 μm, 9 μm, 10 μm, 11 μm, 12 μm; the length can be 50 μm, 60 μm, 70 μm, 80 μm, 90 μm, 100 μm, 110 μm, 120 μm, 130 μm, 140 μm, 150 μm, 160 μm, 170 μm, 180 μm.
According to the preparation method of the invention, in step S1, the boron nitride micron-sized short fibers and boron nitride particles are dry-mixed in advance and then mixed with ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene powder; the boron nitride particles are boron nitride particles with the median particle size of 0.1-12 mu m, and the mass ratio of the boron nitride micron-sized short fibers to the boron nitride particles is 5-20: 1.
According to the preparation method, the boron nitride micron-sized short fiber is a modified boron nitride micron-sized short fiber with the surface coated with a high molecular polymer, or is activated by hydroxyl and then connected with a coupling agent; or the boron nitride micron-sized short fiber is a boron nitride short fiber with micropores formed on the surface in the preparation process.
According to the preparation method, the boron nitride micron-sized short fiber is a modified boron nitride micron-sized short fiber with the surface coated with a high molecular polymer, and the modification method comprises the following steps:
heating the boron nitride micron-sized short fiber raw material to 250-350 ℃, adding mixed resin and stirring to form a mixture, adding a dispersing agent and stirring before the mixture starts to agglomerate, and adding a curing agent and an accelerant and stirring; cooling the materials to 40-90 ℃, transferring the materials to a crusher for crushing, and finally sieving the materials for 200 meshes and 1000 meshes to obtain the modified boron nitride micron-sized short fibers coated with the high molecular polymer; the dispersing agent is one or more of polyethylene wax, stearic acid amide, ethylene bis-stearamide, calcium stearate, zinc stearate, liquid paraffin and silicone oil; the accelerant is mica powder, DDM, DMP-30, CaO and TiO2One or more of; the curing agent is one or more of imidazole, acid anhydride, Lewis acid, hexamethylenetetramine and ethyl orthosilicate compounds;
or the boron nitride micron-sized short fiber is modified boron nitride micron-sized short fiber which is activated by hydroxyl and then connected with a coupling agent, and the specific method comprises the following steps:
dissolving the boron nitride micron-sized short fibers in 1-5mol/L sodium hydroxide solution, stirring for 10-20h at 110-120 ℃, performing suction filtration, washing with deionized water, and drying to obtain activated boron nitride micron-sized short fibers with hydroxylated surfaces; preparing acetone and dilute hydrochloric acid with the pH value of 2-4 into a solution according to the volume ratio of 6-10:1, adding a coupling agent into the solution, hydrolyzing at 40-60 ℃ for 0.5-1h, adding activated boron nitride micron-sized short fibers into the solution, continuously stirring for 2-5h, and drying to obtain the modified boron nitride micron-sized short fibers.
According to the preparation method, the dosage of the dispersant is 0.02-0.05% of the mass of the boron nitride micron-sized short fiber raw material; the dosage of the curing agent is 0.1-0.5% of the mass of the boron nitride micron-sized short fiber raw material; the dosage of the accelerant is 0.1-1% of the mass of the boron nitride micron-sized short fiber raw material.
According to the preparation method, the coupling agent is KH570 or CAI, and the coupling agent accounts for 1-10% of the raw material of the boron nitride micron-sized short fiber.
According to the preparation method of the invention, in the step S1, EVA powder is further included, and the ratio of the EVA powder to the ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene powder is 1: 20-30.
Typically, but not by way of limitation, the ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene has a molecular weight of 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 120, 140, 160, 180, 200, 220, 240, 260, 280, 300, 320, 340, 360, 380, 400, 420, 440, 460, 480, 500, 520, 540, 560, 580 or 600 ten thousand.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the particles of the boron nitride micro-sized short fibers have a diameter of 0.1 to 20 μm and a length of 1 to 180 μm. Further, the shape of the particles of the boron nitride micron-sized short fibers is long rod-shaped particles with the length larger than the diameter; more preferably 20-60 μm in length. Typically, but not by way of limitation, the boron nitride micro-sized staple fibers have a particle length of 20-30 μm, 30-40 μm, 40-50 μm, 50-60 μm, 60-80 μm, or 80-100 μm.
Preferably, the spinning solvent is one or more selected from white oil, mineral oil, vegetable oil, paraffin oil and decalin.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the molecular weight of the ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene is 200-500 ten thousand. The larger the molecular weight of the ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene is, the better the anti-cutting effect is, but the larger the preparation difficulty is, the spinnability of the polyethylene fiber yarn and the wearability after the polyethylene fiber yarn is prepared into the glove can be influenced.
The higher the molecular weight of the ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene is, the higher the anti-cutting performance and the mechanical strength are, but if the molecular weight is too large, the viscosity is too large, the difficulty is high when extruding and manufacturing the fiber yarn, the fiber yarn is not easy to form, the requirement on equipment is high in the preparation process, and the equipment loss is large. Through repeated tests, the performance of the ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber yarn obtained when the molecular weight is 200-500 ten thousand is optimal in all aspects, and the loss to equipment is low.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the extruder is a twin-screw extruder, and the temperature of each zone of the twin-screw extruder is controlled between 100 ℃ and 300 ℃.
The present invention relates to an ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene fiber produced by the production method described in any one of the above examples.
The invention also relates to a cutting-proof glove or cutting-proof clothes, which comprises a braided fabric formed by braiding the ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber prepared by any one of the embodiments or the preparation methods.
(III) advantageous effects
The invention has the beneficial effects that:
(1) according to the invention, the boron nitride micron-sized short fibers are used as reinforcing materials and dispersed in the ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene fiber matrix material, so that the ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene fiber with the cutting resistance is obtained. Compared with the method for blending and weaving the glass fiber, the steel wire and other materials with the ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber in the prior art, the gloves or glove blanks woven by the ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber with the ultra-high cutting resistance have better wearing comfort, such as softness, better touch feeling, no burr, pruritus, poking and scratching and other problems, and are easy to wear.
(2) Compared with a carbon fiber material (with black primary color) as a reinforcing additive, the boron nitride micron-sized short fiber used in the invention is white, so that the prepared ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber can be dyed as required in the later period, and the polyethylene fiber or fabrics such as gloves woven in the later period can be dyed as required.
(3) The invention uses the boron nitride micron-sized short fiber instead of the boron nitride particle powder, thereby having better cutting resistance.
(4) The boron nitride has self-lubricating property, so that the wear to equipment is small in the production process, the equipment and production cost is reduced, and the production efficiency is not negatively influenced.
(5) The affinity and the dispersibility of the boron nitride micron-sized short fibers and the ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene fiber matrix are further improved in various modes, the holding force of the polyethylene fiber matrix on the boron nitride micron-sized short fibers is improved, the boron nitride micron-sized short fibers are not easy to shift/separate from the surface of the matrix, and therefore the boron nitride micron-sized short fibers can be kept in the ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene fiber matrix more durably, and the cutting resistance, the aging resistance and the like of finally prepared polyethylene fibers are improved.
In conclusion, the ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber greatly improves the cutting resistance of the ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber, and the cutting resistance grade of woven fabrics such as gloves can stably reach the 5 grade of European standard 388-2003 standard. The ultrahigh-cutting-resistant ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene fiber produced according to the invention does not need to be blended and reinforced with materials such as steel wires and glass fibers, and the produced protective gloves are soft in texture, light, handy and sensitive, are not easy to fatigue after being worn for a long time, realize the consideration of ultrahigh cutting-resistant and wearing comfort, are easy to dye, and have good protection effect on equipment.