In situ synthesis of PBO-α-(amino phthalocyanine copper) composite fiber with excellent UV-resistance and tensile strength

The anti-ultraviolet (UV) aging of the poly(p-phenylene benzobisoxazole) (PBO) is very important and has been paid much attention recently. In this study, copolymerization of PBO and α-amino phthalocyanine copper (α-TDMACuPc) was carried out by in situ polymerization and the fiber was obtained by dry-jet wet spinning in the liquid crystal state. Inducing of α-TDMACuPc into PBO macromolecules improve the molecular network and enhanced the tensile strength of PBO fiber. With the capability of absorbing UV light into the PBO molecular chain, PBO copolymer fibers showed excellent anti-UV aging performance and changed with the block structure. It is found that the retention of tensile strength after 100 h of UV irradiation was improved from 66.44% of PBO to 88.80% of PBO-2.0 wt % α-TDMACuPc fiber. Meanwhile, the degree of UV etching of the fibers decreased with the addition of α-TDMACuPc.