High surface area nonwovens via fibrillating spunbonded nonwovens comprising Islands-in-the-Sea bicomponent filaments: structure–process–property relationships

The subject matter discussed herein relates generally to fabrics composed of micro-denier fibers wherein said fibers are fractured/fibrillated by mechanical means by employing ‘Islands-in-the-Sea’ (I/S) technology instead of the conventional splittable fibers such as segmented pie. More particularly, the present subject matter relates to methods for manufacturing high strength, high surface area, flexible, and durable fabrics through the use of bicomponent fibers fractured mechanically by hydroentangling where the hydroentangling energy is sufficient for separating the fibrils as well as entangling (bonding) the fibers. This paper specifically deals with physical properties of spunbond fabrics consisting of I/S bicomponent fibers. This paper also deals with the bonding energy requirements for fracturing I/S filament. The results for two different polymer combinations (Polyester/Nylon and Nylon/Polyethylene) are discussed below. The influence of different process parameters and fiber characteristics on the physical properties of the fabrics is discussed. The role of the number of islands in the cross-section is also discussed. Finally, the influence of changing the ‘Sea’ polymer on the fabric performance is also discussed.