Influence of the addition of lubricant on the properties of poly(ether ether ketone)/basalt fiber composites

Improvement in the processability of poly(ether ether ketone)/basalt fiber (PEEK/BF) composites with less influence on other properties is important. A novel high-temperature lubricant GENIOPLAST PELLETS (GPPS) was used in order to decrease the melt viscosity of PEEK/BF composites. The compounds of PEEK/BF/GPPS were characterized by torque of screw, universal tester, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The results showed that a small amount of GPPS could greatly decrease melt viscosity of the composites during processing, and improve the dispersion uniformity and orientation of BF in the PEEK matrix, followed by the enhancement of the modulus and strength of PEEK/BF composites, meanwhile the thermal stability of the compounds was almost unaffected.