Processing and Properties of Nanocomposite Filament Yarns with Various Filler Concentrations from Two Different Modification Methods

Abstract

Summary: In this research, the possibility of producing and processing nanocomposite polypropylene filament yarns with permanent antimicrobial efficiency has been assessed by comparing two different methods. Therefore two approaches were used to mix various blending contents of antimicrobial agents based on silver/TiO 2 nano particles with PP: 1) mixing of PP powder and inorganic nanocomposite powder as an antibacterial agent with the appropriate concentration in a twin screw extruder, preparing modified granules and feeding them to the melt spinning machine, 2) producing masterbatch by a twin screw extruder and blending it with PP in the melt spinning process. In both methods, pure PP and all other combined samples had an acceptable spinnability at the spinning temperature of 240 8C and take-up speed of 2000 m/min. After producing as-spun filament yarns by a pilot plant melt spinning machine, samples were drawn, textured and finally weft knitted. Physical and structural properties of as-spun and drawn yarns with constant and variable draw ratios were investigated and compared. Moreover, the DSC, SEM and FTIR techniques have been used for samples characterization. Finally antibacterial efficiency of knitted samples was evaluated. The experimental results indicated that the maximum crystallinity reduction of modified as-spun yarns reached 5%. But by applying method 2 (masterbatch), crystallinity of modified as-spun yarns remained unchanged compared to pure yarn. However, drawing procedure has compensated this difference. By applying the second method, the drawing generally improved the increase of tenacity and modulus of modified fibers, whereas in method 1 the opposite effect was noticed in the case of constant draw ratio. Although the biostatic efficiency of nanocomposite fibers was excellent in both methods, modified fabrics obtained from method 1 showed higher bioactivity.

A review on the application of inorganic nano-structured materials in the modification of textiles: Focus on anti-microbial properties

“…However, achieving optimum process conditions will present an economical technique. Our previous researches have conducted the bulk modification of filament yarns with various concentrations of nano-composite fillers via melt mixing of the two different silver-based nanocomposite fillers (silver/zinc and Ag/TiO 2 ), and polymer powder in three different mixing methods (single and twin screw extruder as well as master batch preparation) that have been performed on a pilot plant scale and has a remarkable potentiality for mass production [6,101,102,284,285]. This technique is a high-quality, environmental-friendly and easily adjustable industrial modification method.…”

A novel technique for producing durable multifunctional textiles using nanocomposite coating

“…The created negative electrons and oxygen will combine into O 2 − , the positive electric holes and water will generate hydroxyl radicals. Ultimately, the various highly active oxygen species can oxidize organic compounds of bacteria cells [48][49][50][51]. Due to good release ability of XPs layer, the activities of TiO 2 nanoparticles were not limited and also more light can be induced to the TiO 2 nanoparticles because of lower refractive index of XPs than PET fabric [52].…”

HTCC-Modified Nanoclay for Tissue Engineering Applications: A Synergistic Cell Growth and Antibacterial Efficiency

“…Among the different nanostructures with antibacterial activity, silver [30–35], TiO 2 [36–43], and ZnO [44, 45] nanostructures are the most safe and common nanomaterials. Numerous research papers have focused on modification of materials with these nanostructures [46–48].…”