Chemical fibres: Present and future. Look at the next century. Part II

Abstract

The trends in the development of chemical fibre production processes are analyzed and the general characteristics of the change in their manufacture as a function of the fundamental determining factors are found. The chara•teristics •f chemical•bre pr•ducti•n pJ•cesses and subsequent treatments are examined and the possibilities of optimizing and intensifying existing technologies and improving the properties of the fbres by physical and chemical modification are demonstrated. Fibre formation in nature and industry is compared. The possibilities of creating new fibre production technologies, using methods of bionics in particulal; are demonstrated. The development of the raw-material base for chemical fibres, includingfinding new sources of raw materials, is evaluated. The development of alternative principles for spinning chemical fbres and new technologies and types offibres should be expected: production offibres of the Lyocell ~pe by dissolving cellulose in organic solvents will solve the problem of development of hydrated cellulose fibres, which is important due to the gradual decrease in production of viscose fibres; creation of fibres based on synthetic polypeptides of the fibroin ~pe and production of chemical fibres --close analogs of natural silk and cobwebs; use of the principles of bionics based on synthesis of regular block-copolymers of defined structure which allow regulating the properties of the fibres by their self-organization. Use of water as a solvent will allow creating "environmentally clean" fibre production processes. The development of potyvinyl alcohol fibre production is due to the creation of new methods of synthesis of polyvinyl alcohol Water is also the basic component of solvents of synthetic polypeptides. New, alternative raw-material sources based on synthesis of monomers from atmospheric components (carbon dioxide, nitrogen) and water, biotechnological processes, growth of highly productive cellulose-containing crops, and others are becoming important for ensuring increasing chemical fibre production volumes.