Abstract:

In order to explore influences of polylactic acid (PLA) content on the properties of PLA/PP spunbonded fibers, PLA and PP polymers were chosen as the raw materials to prepare PLA/PP spunbonded fibers using laboratory spunbond equipment. The fiber morphology, tensile, hygroscopicity, contact angle and degree of crystallization of the produced fibers were invested by using the scanning electron microscope, electronic single fibre strength tester, constant temperature oven, contact angle tester and X-ray diffraction. The results show that with the increase of PLA content in the blends fiber, the fiber strength decreases, and elongation at break increases, but the work of fracture keeps constant. The fiber moisture regain increases, the contact angle and the degree of crystallinity decreases with the increase of the PLA content. Compared with the pure PP spunbonded fiber, the degree of crystallinity of the blend fiber with PLA content of 7% decreasses 21%, but the hygroscopicity reaches pure PLA fiber level. Therefore, the addition of proper content of PLA polymer to PP polymer can improve the moesture absorption performance of the spunbonded nonwowens, without reducing the durability.

Key words: polypropylene, polylactic acid, blend spunbonded fiber, tensile property, hygroscopicity