High strength nylon micro‐ and nanofiber based nonwovens via spunbonding

Abstract

In this study we explore the feasibility of using of islands-in-the-sea (I/S) fibers in the spunbond process to produce relatively high strength micro-and nanofiber webs. The relationships between the number of islands, percent polymer composition, and the fiber and fabric properties are reported. Nylon 6 (N6) and poly (lactic) acid (PLA) were used as the islands and sea polymers, respectively. Micro-and nanofibers were obtained by dissolving PLA polymer from the final spunbond nonwovens. The fibers with 25% N6 showed a decrease in fiber diameter from 1.3 to 0.36 mm (micron) when the number of islands was increased from 36 to 360. The diameter of fibers with 75% N6 showed a decline from 2.3 to 0.5 mm for the same range. Hydroentangling was found to be the preferred method of bonding of the I/S structures; the bonded structures were able to withstand postprocessing steps required for dissolving of the sea from the resulting nonwovens. Hydroentanged micro-and nanofiber based nonwovens demonstrated high tensile and tear properties, which were insensitive to the N6 fiber size and its mechanical properties. Bonding efficiency and web uniformity were found to be dominant factors influencing the fabric performance. Overall, our study demonstrated that the I/S configuration is a promising technique for high speed and high throughput production of strong and light weight nonwovens comprised of micro-and nanofibers.

Spun bonding Technology and Fabric Properties: a Review

“…Use of copolymer (with ethylene contents of 3-5%) relative to polypropylene shifts the brittle point (Tg) to a lower temperature, giving higher impact strength at a low temperatures and therefore lower fabric stiffness [26]. High strength micro and nano fiber based spun bond nonwovens have been produced by spinning 'Islands in Sea' fibres made up of Nylon 6 as islands and Polylactic acid (PLA) as sea [28].…”

A S tudy of the Factors Affecting the Bursting Strength of Bicomponent Hydroentangled Non - woven Fabrics

“…The conventional sampling carding machine was used to produce the carded fiber webs of basis weights of 60 g/m 2 and 100 g/m 2 . The fiber samples were weighed to produce the targeted weights, opened gently and finally processed in the carding machine.…”

“…While the initial approach was to completely destroy one of the polymers and hence to be left with a micro fiber from one of the polymers, recent techniques involve the splitting or fibrillating of the polymers and hence retaining the two polymers in the non-woven structure. One of the techniques used to manufacture nonwoven fabrics using bicomponent fibers is the hydroentanglement process, where high pressure water jets are used, to split or fibrillate the fibers and hence produce a fabric due to the entanglement that occurs during the splitting or fibrillating process [1][2][3]. Further research has been undertaken to understand the hydroentanglement process and the properties of the non-woven fabrics produced.…”

Effect Of Composite Spinneret Systems On The Formation Of Helical Nanofibers Via Electrospinning

“…Nanofibers with different structures can be obtained by electrospinning [1]. Compared with the conventional electrospinning, composite spinneret is a sample approach for prepared composite nanofibers with two polymers.…”