BICOMPONENT FIBERS

Prepared By : Mazadul Hasan sheshirID: 201000040000813th Batch (session 2009-2013)Department : Wet Processing Technology Email: mazadulhasan@yahoo.comBlog : www. Textilelab.blogspot.com (visit)

Southeast University Department Of Textile Engineering

I/A 251,252 Tejgaon Dhaka Bangladesh

Prepared By :

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Total Textile Process at a Glance

The first commercial bicomponent application in the mid 1960s

Bicomponent fibers can be defined as "extruding two polymers from the same

spinneret, that is, both polymers contained within the same filament.” The

term "conjugate fibers" is often used, particularly in Asia, as synonymous with

bicomponent fibers. Bicomponent fibers are commonly classified by their

BICOMPONENT FIBERS

Bicomponent fiber is comprised of two polymers of

different chemical and / or physical properties extruded

from the same spinneret with both polymers within the

same filament.

Definition:

1.Side-by-Side,

2.Sheath and Core

3.Islands-in-the-Sea and

4.Segmented-pie cross-section types

5.Tipped

6.Mixed Fiber

7.Micro Fiber

fiber cross-section structures as:

Uniform distribution of adhesive

Fiber remains a part of structure and adds integrity Customized sheath materials to bond various materials Wide range of bonding temperatures Cleaner, environmentally friendly (no effluent) Recyclable Lamination / molding / densification of composites.

Advantages of Bicomponent Thermal Binder Fibers

1. Polyester Core (250C melt point) with Copolyester Sheath (melt

points of 110C to 220C) 2. Polyester Core (250C melt point) with Polyethylene Sheath

(130C melt point) 3. Polypropylene Core (175C melt point) with Polyethylene Sheath

(130C melt point)

Common Polymer Combinations in Bicomponent Thermal Binder Fibers

Bicomponents can provide:

1. Thermal bonding

2. Self bulking

3. Very fine fibers

4. Unique cross sections 5. The functionality of special polymers or additives at

reduced cost

Bicomponent Fiber Capabilities

POLYMERS

The polymers given below can be used as either of the components in the cross

sections

PET (polyester) PEN polyester

Nylon 6,6 PCT polyester

Polypropylene PBT polyester

Nylon 6 co-polyamides

Polylactic acid polystyrene

Acetal polyurethane

Soluble co polyester HDPE, LLDPE

Worldwide, Japan and Korea led in bicomponent output with a total of 200 million

pounds annually. The production of the U.S. is currently around 60 million pounds

with Hoechst Celanese holding the lead. Other U.S. players in the Bicomponent

sector include Foss manufacturing, International Polymers Inc. and Fiber Visions.

The present production of bicomponent fibers worldwide is only a fraction of the

25 million metric tons of manmade fiber market, but the producers are confident

of significant growth in the next 10 years or so .

PRODUCERS

These fibers contain two components lying side-by-side. Generally, these fibers consist of two components divided along the length into two or more distinct regions.

Sheath-core Bicomponent

fibers are those fibers where

one of the componentsis fully

surrounded by the second

component.

These fibers are widely used

as bonding fibers in

Nonwoven industry.

MATRIX-FIBRIL BICOMPONENT FIBERS

These are also called islands-in-the-sea fibers. Technically these are complicated structures to make and use. In cross section, they are areas of one polymer in a matrix of a second polymer. These types of bicomponent structure facilitate the generation of micro denier fibers. The ‘islands' are usually a melt spinnable polymer such as nylon, polyester or polypropylene. Polystyrene water-soluble polyesters and plasticized or saponified polyvinyl alcohol can form the sea or matrix. The finer deniers that can be obtained are normally below 0.1 denier

Bicomponent Fibers Variants

Islands-in-the-Sea Islands-in-the-Sea Sixteen Segment Pie

Nanofibers from splitting bicomponent fibers

SEGMENTED PIE STRUCTURE

PET

Nylon

Figure

Standard pie wedge fiber

Nylon

PET

Figure Figure

Spin head of single component spinning　　　　　

Configuration of part of bicomponent spinning equipment

Different Types of Nozzle part of island-in-the-sea type fiber

Photo of the island observed under polarizing microscope

Nano fibers from splitting bicomponent fibers:

Figure . Nanofibers from Bicomponent fibers .

This is a 10% sheath, 90% core of Co-PET/PET. In bicomponent fibers used for bonding, it is generally desirable to minimize sheath ratio. However, due to equipment and process limitations, most commercial products in such applications have historically used a sheath ratio of up to ~50%. With Hills Technology, a sheath ratio of 10% or less can be commercially produced. In addition, some Hills customers have commercially produced perfect sheath/core fibers with spinneret orifice spacing of <1.6mm. Other equipment manufacturers may claim to be able to offer such high hole density, but the cross-sections they obtain are poor; the sheath ratios are high and non-uniform; and the polymer selections useful with a specific spin pack design are very limited.

Sheath/Core Fibers, Round Cross-Section

Sheath/Core Fiber, Trilobal Cross-Section

This photomicrograph demonstrates our ability to produce low sheath ratios in the complex non-round fiber cross-sections.

This is an example of self-bulking fibers commercialized in products where complex jet texturing has historically been required

Side-by-Side, Trilobal Cross-Section

Sixteen Segment Pie

This is an example of splittable fibers for microdenier applications. In this photomicrograph please note the high degree of perfection of the cross-sections; i.e., the segments closely touching in the middle of each fiber, and no segment significantly sheaths another. This type of near perfection is required to control various properties such as split-ability and dyability. Achievement of this level of perfection requires precision in both the polymer distribution system and the melt viscosity of the two polymers. With Hills Technology, great attention is also paid to machine designs required to control melt viscosity. This includes properly selecting machine materials and designs for uniform heat transfer, as well as for uniform residence time from the initial melt to the spinneret face. We have even had to design our own polymer prefilters to obtain the necessary uniform residence times that are not available with commercial polymer pre-filters.

While 16 pie segments is the most common number we have commercialized, it is not the limit.

As shown in this photomicrograph, equal uniformity can be achieved in commercial applications with 36 or more segments

Thirty-Six Segment Pie

This cross-section was produced with a spinneret designed to produce hollow fibers.

In certain applications, these fibers can be made to split in-line with fiber extrusion. It is also noteworthy to point out that these filaments as well as the filaments shown in Photographs 4 and 5 were all produced on a spinneret with the orifices on ~6.0mm centers.

This is the same orifice spacing commonly used to produce homopolymer filaments of comparable denier per filament.

Therefore, it is confirmed that with Hills Technology, these most complex bicomponent cross-sections can now be produced at conventional machine rates.

Sixteen Segment Hollow Pie

Islands-in-the-Sea, 64 Islands

• The sea/island ratio shown in this fiber is 20%/80%; yet, all the islands are separated.

• This fiber was also produced on a spinneret with the orifices on ~6.0mm centers.

• In producing these filaments it is necessary to precisely meter and distribute over 65 polymer streams to each spinneret orifice.

• Hills' unique micromachining capabilities and knowledge of polymer flows make this possible at the high spinneret orifice density.

In June 1999, Hills extended its capabilities to produce INS fibers to higher island counts. This photomicrograph shows 600 polypropylene islands in a sea of PVA polymer. The polymer ratio is 30%/70%.After being spun the fiber is drawn and the PVA polymer is dissolved away with hot water. The fiber shown was produced in this manner and then dipped in a cup of boiling water leaving the 600 island fibers in the area exposed to the hot water and a single solid filament in the area not exposed to the hot water. This technique as been used to produce fibers on 6 mm hole centers with over 1100 island fibers in each filament. When drawn, final total filament denier of 1 dpf was produced, resulting in island fibers of approximately 500 nanometer diameter. Basically, these fibers are spun from the mixture of two polymers in the required proportion; where one polymer is suspended in droplet form in the second melt. An important feature in production of matrix-fibril fibers is the necessity for artificial cooling of the fiber immediately below the spinneret orifices. Different spinnability of the two components would almost disable the spinnability of the mixture, except for low concentration mixtures (less than 20%).

600 Island-in-the-Sea

1. Thermal bonding

2. Self bulking

3. Very fine fibers

4. Unique cross sections

5. The functionality of special polymers or additives at reduced cost

Bicomponent Fiber Capabilities:

1. Uniform distribution of adhesive

2. Fiber remains a part of structure and adds integrity

3. Customized sheath materials to bond various materials

4. Wide range of bonding temperatures

5. Cleaner, environmentally friendly (no effluent)

6. Recyclable

7. Lamination / molding / densification of composites.

Advantages of Bicomponent Thermal Binder Fibers:

There are far too many different end-uses for bicomponent fibers to cover in a brief article, but a few illustrative examples are discussed below.

Even the basic sheath/core binder fiber has been updated since the early days. Today, there is access to a range of copolymers of polyesters, polyamides, and polyolefins that allow precise targeting of the desired thermal bonding behavior.

The bonding temperature can be set from a low of about 110°C to a high of about 180°C. It is even possible to select bonding polymers outside this range, but these options can impose significant caveats.

Beyond the bonding temperature, the adhesive character of the bonding polymer can be adjusted to adhere better to polar surfaces or nonpolar ones. And the crystalline nature of the polymer can be adjusted to give a broader or narrower melt-temperature range. Binder fibers for high-loft nonwovens used as seat cushions in place of polyurethane foam use a sheath polymer with elastic recovery, so that repeated stressing of the bond points does not fracture the bond.

Uses Of Bicomponent Fibers:

The fundamental sheath/core cross section is also useful in many applications demanding engineering polymers.

Typically, such an application depends entirely on the surface properties of the more exotic, and more expensive, polymer. In these cases, the fiber's core can be made with a suitable lower-cost polymer to deliver all of the benefit of the more expensive polymer at a materials cost well below that of a fiber made from the surface polymer alone.

Side-by-side bicomponent fibers typically rely on the difference in shrinkage between the two polymers.

At any point in the fabric formation process, if the fibers are not physically constrained, shrinkage can be induced by the application of heat. Since the two polymers shrink at different rates, the fiber resolves the resulting tension by curling into a helix.

This behavior allows a fabric to be made flat and then bulked when and where it suits the application.

Uses Of Bicomponent Fibers:

The pie wedge cross sections typically are used to make microfibers. Direct spinning of microfibers is difficult - and practically impossible below about 0.3 to 0.5 denier per filament (dpf) - and expensive, as throughputs are low. But a 2- to 3-dpf pie-wedge fiber does not suffer throughput limitations, and is robust through fiber and fabric production processes.

Once a nonwoven web is formed from these fibers, it can be subjected to mechanical agitation - typically, a hydroentangling process - which will split the segments into microfibers - typically, about 16 segments per bicomponent fiber.

The result is a microfiber fabric at significantly reduced cost compared to one made using direct-spun microfibers. The hollow and partial-wrap versions of this cross section are refinements that allow adjustment of the fiber's relative splittability.

Uses Of Bicomponent Fibers:

Finally, the entire range of polymer additives that can be used in single-polymer fibers can

also be used in one or both of the polymers in a bicomponent fiber to achieve targeted

performance characteristics. These additives include such things as colorants, flame

retardants, antimicrobials, conductive materials and carbon nanotubes, among other

additives.

With this very large matrix of material properties and ways of combining them into each

fiber, it will be apparent that bicomponent fibers are no longer a one-trick pony. Whereas

in the past, fabric design meant trying to optimize the fixed attributes of a commodity fiber

into each different application, bicomponent fibers now offer a way to engineer finely-

tuned performance into the fiber. Each application can now seek a fiber that is precisely

tailored to fit the specific needs of that application.

Conclusion:

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