Fabrication of helical microfibers from melt blown polymer blends

Abstract

Helical fibers in micro/nanoscale resembling plant tendrils have been of increasing interest due to their unique characteristics. Fabrication of helical microfibers from polymer blends using melt blowing technique is reported in this study. An elastomeric and a stiff polymer are chosen as the raw materials, and a designed swirl-die melt-blowing device is used to prepare the microfibrous nonwovens. Focusing on the interfacial interaction between the polymer components induced by the polymer structure and intrinsic properties, airflow field characteristics, and processing parameters, we explore the effects of various parameters on helical fiber formation.Differential scanning calorimeter is employed to examine the rigidity of polymer chains, and the three-dimensional airflow field simulation is carried out to reveal the airflow field characteristics. This work can provide a promising technique for producing stretchable microfibrous materials which have potential applications in field such as filtration materials and oil sorbents.

Meltblown technology for production of polymeric microfibers/nanofibers: A review

“…Deng N. et al [9] showed that utilization of the incompatible blend system (namely mixture of PP and PS) can increase fiber diameter variation considerably due to continues fluctuation of blend viscosity during MB process as visible in Figure 19. Creation of even helical microfibers with a three-dimensional spiral shape from polypropylene (PP)/thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) incompatible blend was also reported [169] (see Figure 20).…”

Effects of Compatibilizer and Airflow Field on the Formation of Helical Microfibers via Melt Blowing

“…Schematics of the (a) swirl‐die melt‐blowing setup, (b) end‐on view of the swirl die. (for further details, see paper by Li et al), (c) auxiliary device, and (d) SEM images of the helical microfiber and the cross‐section. The right images are the partial enlargement of (d).…”

“…Each air orifice has a die angle and a twist angle (see ref . for detailed description of the swirl die).…”

“…In our previous studies, we have successfully fabricated Poly( m ‐phenylene isophthalamide) (Nomex)/TPU helical nanofibers and cellulose acetate/TPU helical nanofibers via coelectrospinning. At the same time, PP/TPU microfibers with helical structures have been fabricated from melt blown polymer blends . Compared to electrospinning, melt blowing has the advantage of high productivity, low cost, and less environmental pollution (due to nonsolvent evaporation).…”

Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) Investigation of the Turbulent Airflow in Slot-Die Melt Blowing

“…Melt-blown microfibers with a mean diameter of several micrometers are obtained by attenuating the polymeric melt jets with the help of a high-speed air stream [1], and the melt-blown micro-fibrous materials are widely used in areas of filtration and oil/water separation [2,3]. Recently, functional fibers, such as melt-blown cross-linked or helical fibers, have emerged [4,5], which are expected to have great potential applications.…”