Polyamide fiber spinning

The primary driving forces behind investigation of new solvents include environmental concerns and the abiUty to form Hquid crystals in the new solvent systems. By analogy with Kevlar, a synthetic aromatic polyamide fiber, spinning from a Hquid crystalline solution should yield cellulose fibers with improved strength, as has been demonstrated in laboratory experiments. 

Because of the capacity to tailor select polymer properties by varying the ratio of two or more components, copolymers have found significant commercial appHcation in several product areas. In fiber-spinning, ie, with copolymers such as nylon-6 in nylon-6,6 or the reverse, where the second component is present in low (<10%) concentration, as well as in other comonomers with nylon-6,6 or nylon-6, the copolymers are often used to control the effect of sphemUtes by decreasing their number and probably their size and the rate of crystallization (190). At higher ratios, the semicrystalline polyamides become optically clear, amorphous polymers which find appHcations in packaging and barrier resins markets (191). 

Fiber spinning, 11 174, 175, 170-171 carbon-nanotube, 13 385-386 methods of, 16 8 models of, 11 171-172 of polyester fibers, 20 12-15 Fiber structure, of aromatic polyamides, 19 727... 

Hollow-fiber permeators, 26 22 Hollow fibers, 13 389-390 cellulose ester, 26 19 cellulosic, 26 18-20 ion-exchange, 26 15 mechanical considerations and dimensions for, 26 5-7 natural polymer, 26 23 polyacrylonitrile, 26 23 polyamide, 26 21-22 post-treatment of, 26 13-14 preparation of, 26 3 production of, 19 757 with sorbent walls, 26 26 technology of, 26 27 wet spinning of, 25 816, 817-818 Hollow-fiber spinning processes, 26 7-12 Hollow fiber spinning technology,... 

Olefin fibers are manufactured commercially by melt spinning, similar to the methods employed for polyester and polyamide fibers. 

Nylon. In 1939 the DuPont Company introduced the first truly synthetic textile fiber. Dr. Wallace Carothers invented nylon as a result of his basic research into polymer science. Chemically, nylon is a polyamide fiber. The two major types of nylon polymer are used in textiles type 6,6 which is made by using hexam-ethylene glycol and adipic acid, and type 6, which is made by polymerizing e-caprolactam. Nylon fibers are made by melt-spinning the molten polymer. The result is a continuous filament fiber of indeterminate length. It is spun in many deniers, with its diameter varying from 10 to 50 microns. The cross-section usually is round, trilobal, or square with hollow channels when used as carpet fiber. 

Hollow membrane fibers are required for many medical application, e.g. for disposable dialysis. Such fibers are made by usmg an appropriate fiber spinning technique with a special inlet in the center of the spinneret through which the fiber core forming medium (liquid or gas) is injected. The membrane material may be made by melt-spinning, chemical activated spinning or phase separation. The thin wall (15-500 xm thickness) acts as a semi-permeable membrane. Commonly, such fibers are made of cellulose-based membrane materials such as cellulose nitrate, or polyacrylonitrile, polymethylmethacrylate, polyamide and polypropylene (van Stone, 1985). 

Information on physical parameters of the molecular structure of polyamide fibers are usually obtained by x-ray diffraction methods, electron and light microscopies, infrared spectroscopy, thermal analyses such as differential thermal analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermomechanical analysis, electron spin resonance, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. X-ray diffraction provides detailed information on the molecular and fine structures of polyamide fibers. Although the diffraction patterns of polyamide fibers show wide variation, they exhibit usually three distinct regions ... 

The bicomponent fiber technology began in the 1960s on polyester and polyamide fibers. This technology encompasses a vast variety of polymers, filament shapes, and processes. As recent examples, Howe et al. [394], Wu [395], and Talley et al. [396] have disclosed spin-texture processes for the preparation of self-crimped polyamide bicomponent fibers. DuPont [397] disclosed the method for high-speed spinning bicomponent fibers. The use of a bicomponent yarn with another yarn to form a composite yarn bundle has been taught by Stevenson et al. [398] and others. 

There are several other related structures, some of which are thermosets. The significance of these polymers is their physical stability at peak temperatures of 300 C and above, together with high chemical stability. There are combinations of polyimides with polyamides and other modifications that aim at improved processability. The original polyimide is very difficult to process, being shaped only via compression or film casting, or by fiber spinning from solution. 

Among the aromatic polyamides, poly(l,4-benzamide) (PBA) and poly(/)-phenylene terephthalamide) (PPTA) were the first cotmnerdal aramid fibers spinned from lyptropic LC solutions (Chapter 5.19). 

Aromatic polyamide fibers are produced by spinning liquid crystalline polymer solutions of PPTA-sulfuric acid dopes into a water coagulation bath [414], resulting in the formation of a crystalline fiber with a surface skin. Variations in the structure produced by annealing at elevated temperature are known to increase the fiber modulus due to a more perfect alignment of the molecules [472]. The chemistry and physics of the aromatic polyamide fibers have been reviewed [419]. 

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