4. PCL implementation

4.1 Films and fibers

At present, the vast majority of PCL applications are injection-molded. Other transformation processes are still little used, if at all.

PCL films and fibers are obtained from generally unreinforced polymers. The fibers, which are made from low-viscosity, low-molecular-weight polymers, are brittle.

In the 1970s, Du Pont de Nemours discovered that post-polymerization of the fibers at a temperature of around 300 C significantly improved their properties, to the point of giving them a strength close to that of Kevlar ^® aramid fibers (registered trademark of Du Pont de Nemours).