Synthetic polymer fibres spinning

Understanding the behaviour of synthetic polymer fibres during spinning... 

Gel spinning of synthetic polymer fibres 101 Table 5.1 A comparison of fibre strength and modulus... 

Bi-component and bi-constituent spinning of synthetic polymer fibres... 

PP/silver nanocomposite fibres were prepared with the aim of achieving permanent antibacterial activity in a common synthetic textile. The fibres were melt-spun by coextmsion of PP and PP/silver masteibatches using general conjugate spinning. Masteibatches were made up of a mixture of PP chips and nano-sized silver powder. The antibacterial efficacy of spun fibres was high when the masteibatch was used as the sheath rather than the core. The antibacterial activity of nano-silver in fibres was evaluated after a certain contact time and calculated by percent reduction of two types of bacteria. Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiela pneumoniae. DSC and wide-angle X-ray diffraction were used for analysis of stractuie, thermal properties and crystallisation behaviour of the spun fibres. SEM was carried out in order to observe particle distribution on the nanocomposite fibres. 17 refs. (2nd International Conference on Polymer Fibres, Manchester, UK, July 2002)... 

Artificial fibre products are made from two types of materials, organic and inorganic. Synthetic fibres can be produced using true synthetic polymers, regenerated materials and modified natural ones. Dry spinning, wet spinning and melt spinning... 

In man-made fibres, any stretching will irreversibly alter the crystallinity and there is no control of the lateral size of polymer crystals. Semicrystalline polymer networks typically consist of platelet type crystals whose width exceeds their thickness by several order of magnitudes because only the thickness is controlled by the chain folding [61]. In contrast to synthetic fibres, spider silk does not need any mechanical treatment by external forces the constituents self-assemble directly during the spinning-process. These examples clearly demonstrate the need for more detailed control of the mesoscopic structures for further development of man-made materials. 

The classic researches of Wallace Hume Carothers on polymer synthesis started in the Du Pont (USA) in 1928 and bulk scale production of nylon 6 and nylon 6,6 started in 1939. J.R.Whinfield and J.T.Dickson discovered polyester in 1941 and was commercially manufactured by 1954. Yam texturising and spin draw yams produced at super high speeds have further increase the popularity of synthetic fibres [75, 76]. Polyster fibre accounts for more than 50% of the total synthetic fibre production. 

Bicomponent fibres are sjmthetic fibres composed of two firmly but separately combined polymers of different chemical and physical structures. The structure of the bieomponent depends on the shape of the spinnerette orifice (side-by-side, sheath eore, matrix - fibril and multi-fibrillary) and the type of spinning method. Due to the structural differences, the two components shrink differently on heat treatment and form crimp and greater bulk in the fibre. The first fully synthetic bicomponent was an acrylic (Sayelle, Orion 21). The use of sheath-core fibres composed of nylon 6,6 and nylon 6 (Heterofil, ICI) for floor coverings is described. 

Spun bonded media production processes exploit the thermosetting properties of polymers, to form fibres that can be bonded by combinations of heat, pressure and chemical activation. Melt spinning, using conventional synthetic fibre technology, was the earliest method used for producing spun bonded filter media and continues to be of major importance, but finer fibres are produced by melt blowing and flash spinning processes. 

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