The purpose of this exploratory investigation was to elucidate the structural mechanism accounting for the enhanced compressive properties of heat-treated Kevlar-29® fibers. A novel theory was set forth that hydrogen bond disruption and concurrent misorientation of crystallites may account for the observed augmentation of compressive properties. To examine the said theory, virgin Kevlar-29® fibers were characterized by Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) in an effort to determine if crosslinking and/or hydrogen bond disruption was responsible for the improved behavior in compression. Additionally, Kevlar-29® fibers that had been exposed to treatment temperatures of 400, 440, and 470 °C were profiled by Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectrophotometry (FTIR) to determine if crosslinking and/or hydrogen bond obfuscation had been promoted. The results indicate that both mechanistic changes are occurring within the Kevlar-29®, albeit in different regions of the rigid-rod polymer. In particular, heat-treatment of poly-p-phenylene terephthalamide results in crosslinking of its skin region and hydrogen bond disruption within the core realm.
","abstract_html":"<p>The purpose of this exploratory investigation was to elucidate the structural mechanism accounting for the enhanced compressive properties of heat-treated Kevlar-29® fibers. A novel theory was set forth that hydrogen bond disruption and concurrent misorientation of crystallites may account for the observed augmentation of compressive properties. To examine the said theory, virgin Kevlar-29® fibers were characterized by Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) in an effort to determine if crosslinking and/or hydrogen bond disruption was responsible for the improved behavior in compression. Additionally, Kevlar-29® fibers that had been exposed to treatment temperatures of 400, 440, and 470 °C were profiled by Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectrophotometry (FTIR) to determine if crosslinking and/or hydrogen bond obfuscation had been promoted. The results indicate that both mechanistic changes are occurring within the Kevlar-29®, albeit in different regions of the rigid-rod polymer. In particular, heat-treatment of poly-<em>p</em>-phenylene terephthalamide results in crosslinking of its skin region and hydrogen bond disruption within the core realm.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Downing, James W., Jr."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.S. in Chemical Engineering","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Chemical Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Newell, James"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2002,"date_issued":"2002-05-08T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2002-05-08T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:14:25Z","subjects":["Fibrous composites; Polyamide fibers; Polyphenyleneterephthalamide","Chemical Engineering"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1429","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Newell, James"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Downing, James W., Jr."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-05-12T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Chemical Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.S. in Chemical Engineering"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Fibrous composites; Polyamide fibers; Polyphenyleneterephthalamide","Chemical Engineering"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1429"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The purpose of this exploratory investigation was to elucidate the structural mechanism accounting for the enhanced compressive properties of heat-treated Kevlar-29® fibers. A novel theory was set forth that hydrogen bond disruption and concurrent misorientation of crystallites may account for the observed augmentation of compressive properties. To examine the said theory, virgin Kevlar-29® fibers were characterized by Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) in an effort to determine if crosslinking and/or hydrogen bond disruption was responsible for the improved behavior in compression. Additionally, Kevlar-29® fibers that had been exposed to treatment temperatures of 400, 440, and 470 °C were profiled by Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectrophotometry (FTIR) to determine if crosslinking and/or hydrogen bond obfuscation had been promoted. The results indicate that both mechanistic changes are occurring within the Kevlar-29®, albeit in different regions of the rigid-rod polymer. In particular, heat-treatment of poly-p-phenylene terephthalamide results in crosslinking of its skin region and hydrogen bond disruption within the core realm.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Characterization of structural changes in thermally enhanced Kevlar-29® Fiber"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Newell, James"],"dc:creator":["Downing, James W., Jr."],"dc:date.available":["2016-05-12T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The purpose of this exploratory investigation was to elucidate the structural mechanism accounting for the enhanced compressive properties of heat-treated Kevlar-29® fibers. A novel theory was set forth that hydrogen bond disruption and concurrent misorientation of crystallites may account for the observed augmentation of compressive properties. To examine the said theory, virgin Kevlar-29® fibers were characterized by Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) in an effort to determine if crosslinking and/or hydrogen bond disruption was responsible for the improved behavior in compression. Additionally, Kevlar-29® fibers that had been exposed to treatment temperatures of 400, 440, and 470 °C were profiled by Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectrophotometry (FTIR) to determine if crosslinking and/or hydrogen bond obfuscation had been promoted. The results indicate that both mechanistic changes are occurring within the Kevlar-29®, albeit in different regions of the rigid-rod polymer. In particular, heat-treatment of poly-p-phenylene terephthalamide results in crosslinking of its skin region and hydrogen bond disruption within the core realm.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1429"],"dc:subject":["Fibrous composites; Polyamide fibers; Polyphenyleneterephthalamide","Chemical Engineering"],"dc:title":["Characterization of structural changes in thermally enhanced Kevlar-29® Fiber"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Chemical Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.S. in Chemical Engineering"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:14:25Z"}