Fundamental studies on poly(trimethylene terephthalate) spunbonded nonwovens

Spunbonding is the most productive of all the non-conventional methods of textile fabric formation. Isotactic polypropylene is the most widely used polymer in spunbonding production because it is the least expensive fiber-forming polymer that provides the highest yield. However, the main disadvantage of polypropylene is that it degrades in UV light or gamma radiation. With the increasing demand of the sterilized nonwovens, poly (trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT) has sparked an interest in this application due to its radiation resistance. In this research, we investigated the fundamental properties of PTT spunbonded nonwovens. The comparisons among PTT, PET and PP spunbonded nonwovens were conducted where appropriate. SEM was applied to examine the web structure. Web uniformity and fiber orientation analysis were conducted to study the web properties. The results showed that PTT spunbonded nonwovens have better elastic recovery and flexibility compared to PET and PP spunbonded nonwovens. PTT spunboned nonwovens are relatively thermal stable compared to PET and PP spunbonded nonwovens at high temperature (150°C).