Journal of Textile Research ›› 2024, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (03): 219-226.doi: 10.13475/j.fzxb.20221004802

• Machinery & Equipment • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Review on non-compatibility blend melt blowing nonwoven process

QIN Zixuan1, ZHANG Heng1(), LI Han1, ZHAI Qian1, ZHEN Qi2, QIAN Xiaoming3   

  1. 1. School of Textiles, Zhongyuan University of Technology, Zhengzhou, Henan 451191, China
    2. School of Fashion Technology, Zhongyuan University of Technology, Zhengzhou, Henan 451191, China
    3. School of Textile Science and Engineering, Tiangong University, Tianjin 300387, China
  • Received:2022-12-24 Revised:2023-05-23 Online:2024-03-15 Published:2024-04-15
  • Contact: ZHANG Heng E-mail:m-esp@163.com

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Abstract:

Significance Melt blowing method is a one-step preparation process for preparing microfibers nonwovens, which has attractive advantages of high production efficiency, low energy consumption, and low cost. The melt blown nonwovens show a diversified and functional application trend, such as medical protection, air filtration, and oil-water separation, owing to the increasing requirements of the good life. Blending modification is the main strategy to improve the performance of melt blown nonwovens, and the non-compatibility blend melt blowing nonwoven process using the raw materials of polymer with different solubility parameters, is an effective method of structure regulation, including adjusting the fiber diameter distribution and pore morphology, helps expand the application of microfibers materials. This is because the structure paraments of the microfiber materials are affected by the viscosity of the polymer melt and the phase separation during the melt blowing process. In addition, the phase separation is more obvious in the case of high-speed hot air drafting, because of the solubility parameter difference between components in the melt. However, to our best knowledge, there are limited reports about the review on the non-compatibility blend melt blowing nonwoven process. Thus, clarifying the phase separation mechanism and regulation rules of the microfiber material structure in the non-compatibility blend melt blowing nonwoven process help expand the industrialization of melt blowing nonwoven technology.

Progress Starting from the mechanism of non-soluble phase blending melt blowing, this paper presents that the blending system formed by different types of polymers is affected by the forces of each component between polymers during the melt blowing process, and the forces at different positions are different in the drawing process, thus enabling the formation of microfiber materials with large differences in fiber diameters. Thereafter, this paper reviews the performance enhancement of microfiber materials after using different types of polymer ratios. Firstly, the non-soluble phase blending of polymers with different ratios can enhance the toughness of the materials. Meanwhile, the melt blowing non-soluble phase blending can produce microfiber materials with large differences in fiber diameters, which can effectively enhance the filtration performance of the materials. In addition, inspired by the phase separation of components in melt blowing nonwoven materials, the removal of one of the components in the ultrafine fiber material can provide ideas for obtaining nanoscale ultrafine fiber materials. Finally, this paper reviews the functional application forms and fields of non-soluble phase co-blended melt blowing microfiber materials and discusses the current problems and future development directions of non-soluble phase co-blended melt blowing, in order to provide references for further research on the preparation of microfiber materials by co-blended melt blowing nonwovens technology.

Conclusion and Prospect Considerable efforts have been developed in the non-compatibility blend melt blowing nonwoven process. Selecting appropriate polymer types and proportions based on functional applications to form an effective polymer matching system for non-compatibility blend melt blowing nonwoven process are the main measures taken, despite a wide variety of polymers that can be used. The effective selection of raw material and process optimization during the non-compatibility blend melt blowing nonwoven process is not only good for obtaining large scale fiber diameters distribution, but also useful for gain a variety of micro/nano fiber network structures such as horizontal branching and three-dimensional embedding. Thus, toughness and filtration and separation capabilities of microfibers materials are improved. Besides, the combination of non-compatibility blend melt blowing process and etching process can selectively remove a certain component of the melt blown nonwovens, thereby a nanofiber network structure and rough groove morphology was obtained. However, the green, and effective one-step preparation process still needs further research. Although the functional application in the fields of toughness enhancement, filter materials and oil-water separation has been made, the further application in the fields of smart wearables, construction and energy still needs to develop.

Key words: melt blowing technology, nonwoven, non-compatibility blending, polymer, microfiber

CLC Number: 

  • TS176

Fig.1

Diagram of melt blowing nonwoven process"

Fig.2

Non-compatibility blend melt blowing nonwoven process. (a) Microfibers materials with micro-nano scale fiber diameter distribution;(b) Diagram of microphase separation during non-compatibility blend melt blowing nonwoven process"

Fig.3

Phase distribution and blending principle of non-compatibility blending. (a) SEM images of sea-island structure of PP/EVA blends;(b) SEM images and schematic diagram of PP/EVA microfibers materials"

Fig.4

Microfibers materials prepared by blend melt blowing nonwoven process. (a) Diagram of PP/PEG microfiber fabric with horizontal branching structure;(b) SEM image of PLA/PCL microfiber fabric"

Fig.5

Schematic diagram and structure of non-compatibility blend melt blowing-etching process. (a) Schematic diagram of non-compatibility blend melt blowing-etching process; (b) SEM image of SP/PBT blended melt-blown nonwoven before and after water etching process"

Fig.6

Diagram of application of non-compatibility blend melt blowing nonwoven process"

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