Preparation of a novel poly (ether ether ketone) self-reinforced paper appropriate for harsh conditions

It remains a challenge to prepare special engineering paper with excellent mechanical properties, high temperature resistance and chemical resistance. The emergence of high-performance fiber provides support for the technical progress of special engineering paper. Herein, a novel method to obtain a novel self-reinforced poly (ether ether ketone) (PEEK) composite paper (SR-DI-PEEK/paper) by vacuum filtration, impregnation and hot pressing. Specially, PEEK fibers were used as the skeleton fiber and a small amount of aramid pulp was added as the decanted fiber. By optimizing the process of SR-DI-PEEK/paper preparation, the best mechanical properties of SR-DI-PEEK/paper was presented. Compared with the composite paper prepared with Phenolic solution (PF-PEEK/paper) and Polyimide solution (PI-PEEK/paper), the mechanical properties of SR-DI-PEEK/paper was significantly improved. In particular, when the concentration of impregnation was 3 wt%, the tensile index of SR-DI-PEEK/paper reached 51.10 N m g −1 (tensile strength 47.16 kN m −1 ), which is 16.48 times than that of the un-impregnated PEEK/paper (2.86 kN m −1 ). SR-DI-PEEK/paper also exhibited excellent chemical resistance among acid, alkali, and polar solvents, while the tensile index maintained 96.3% after 40 wt% H 2 SO 4 treatment. Besides, SR-DI-PEEK/paper showed superior thermal performance, while the temperatures corresponding to the weight loss of 5% were 574 °C. Graphical abstract