Abstract
Effect of water soluble potassium content of potassium hexatitanate fibers on the mechanical properties of polyamide 66 reinforced with potassium hexatitanate fibers were investigated. Two types of fibers with the water soluble potassium contents of 4 ppm and 127 ppm were used for the reinforcement. Some mechanical properties of the composites were investigated using dry test pieces and moisture absorbed test pieces having water content of 2.5 wt%. The mechanical properties of polyamide 66 reinforced with fibers with 4 ppm of water soluble potassium were higher than those of with fibers of 127 ppm of water soluble potassium. In particular, it was found that on moisture absorbed condition, the composites reinforced with low-potassium-leaching potassium hexatitanate fibers showed higher mechanical properties. The potassium hexatitanate fibers with negligible amount of leachability were found to be useful as a reinforcing material for polyamide 66.
