New Polyethylene - Nano Tungsten Disulfide Composite Fiber Protective Material

In individual protection, the armor materials used for bullet-proof include alumina, silicon carbide, boron carbide, silicon nitride, titanium diboride and so on. At present, conventional weapons are developing rapidly, and the threat level to individual soldiers is gradually increasing. In order to improve the survivability and mobility of individual soldiers, it is necessary to develop a lightweight and efficient ballistic composite system.

A new generation of single-soldier protective materials need to be lighter, stronger and easier to manufacture. Therefore, a military enterprise in China has developed a new type of material containing ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene/nano tungsten disulfide composite fibers. The materials are manufactured by the following methods:

1.The nano-WS₂ with particle size of 120 nm was immersed in a mixture of 100 ml sulphuric acid and potassium permanganate, and treated at reflux temperature for 1.5 hours. The concentration of potassium permanganate in sulphuric acid was 5 g/100 ml. The purified nano-WS₂ and 3-aminopropyl triethoxysilane coupling agent were refluxed in ethanol for 2 hours to obtain tungsten disulfide modified by coupling agent.

2.The WS₂ modified by the coupling agent is evenly dispersed in paraffin oil by ultrasonic wave. Then the WS₂ and UHMWPE paraffin oil solution are heated slowly in the reactor with stirring shear action. The stirring shear speed is controlled at 75-1500 rpm. The reaction temperature is gradually raised from 100 to 180 ℃/min. The homopolymerization is completed at 180 ℃ for 120 minutes reaction.

3.Gel spinning: the fully dissolved UHMWPE/ nano two tungsten sulfide composite solution was spun by conventional gel spinning method, and the spinning temperature was 130 degrees. The obtained gel threads were extracted and drafted three times to obtain the composite fibers.

The new inorganic fullerene-like transition metal sulfide tungsten disulfide nano-materials prepared by introducing nano-WS₂ particles into UHMWPE fibers have spherical nested hollow structure. Smooth spherical surface can make the stress more uniformly distributed along the surface of the particles. The nested hollow structure can absorb a lot of shock wave energy. Therefore, this ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene/nano tungsten disulfide nano-materials have spherical nested hollow structure. Composite fibers have excellent impact and shock resistance and can be used to make body armor, bullet-proof helmet or bullet-proof insert board.

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