Fiber-reinforced composite material and process for the production thereof

Abstract

A process for the production of a fiber-reinforced composite material, which comprises the steps of (1) preparing a polymeric composition containing a substantially linear aromatic oligomer having a terminal aliphatic hydroxyl group, bis(acylcaprolactam) and a catalyst which promotes a ring opening-addition reaction of a hydroxyl group and a caprolactam ring, (2) melting the polymeric composition and impregnating it into a fibrous reinforcing material to form a impregnated product, and (3) heating the impregnated product up to a temperature sufficient to open the caprolactam ring while inhibiting elimination of caprolactam thereby to form, as a matrix resin, a thermoplastic copolymer having an ester group and an amide group in its main chain; and a fiber-reinforced composition material produced by the above-mentioned process.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.