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2019
Poster
Titel
PLA multifilament yarn. Optimization of the textile-physical property profile
Titel Supplements
Poster presented at Aachen-Dresden-Denkendorf International Textile Conference 2019, 28.-29. November 2019, Dresden
Alternative
PLA-Multifilamentgarn - Optimierung des textil-physikalischen Eigenschaftsprofils
Abstract
The demand for products made of the thermoplastic biopolyester PLA is currently growing steadily. Besides products such as films, plastic tableware or monofilaments for 3D printing there is also an increasing interest in PLA multifilament yarns for textile applications, as can be seen from the portfolio of several well-known fibre manufacturers. Principally the structure of PLA is suitable for the realization of resistant high-strength fibre substances. In 1987 Leenslag et al.1 produced PLA fibres with a tensile strength of 170 cN/tex and an tensile modulus of 1300 cN/tex by dry spinning of high-molecular PLA (Mw ~ 900000 g/mol) from solution and subsequently hot drawing. Performing an economically viable melt spinning process with PLA comparable to commercially available spin-type PLA (M w < 170000 g/mol), it has only been possible for research insitutions up now to achieve tensile strength (30-40 cN/tex) and modulus values (300-500 cN/tex)2 that only allow an application in the textile sector. The poster presents the results of post-drawing investigations in the field of melt spun PLA multifilament yarns, carried out at the Fraunhofer IAP with commercially available PLA on a melt-spinning line and a post-drawing device. The focus of the work was on optimizing the textile-physical properties to meet the requirements placed on technical fibres. Accompanying tensile tests, DSC-analyses as well as X-ray and birefringence investigations yielded revealing findings regarding the supermolecular fibre structure and the resulting mechanical properties of PLA. In this way, it was possible to produce high-strength PLA fibres (tensile strength ~ 62 cN/tex; tensile modulus ~ 740 cN/tex) with a property level of technical fibres.