MELTBLOWN NONWOVEN WEB COMPRISING RECLAIMED POLYPROPYLENE COMPONENT AND RECLAIMED SUSTAINABLE POLYMER COMPONENT AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME FIELD

• Main Authors: NOVARINO, Elena, STREICH, Stefanie, HARTL, Helmut, NEWKIRK, David D
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French; German
• Published: 12.09.2018
• Subjects: BRAIDING; COTTON-WOOL; FABRICS MADE BY SUCH PROCESSES OR APPARATUS, e.g. FELTS,NON-WOVEN FABRICS; KNITTING; LACE-MAKING; MAKING TEXTILE FABRICS, e.g. FROM FIBRES OR FILAMENTARYMATERIAL; NON-WOVEN FABRICS; TEXTILES; TRIMMINGS; WADDING

Process of preparing meltblown fibers that are reclaimed from a starting material of a polypropylene component and a sustainable polymer component is provided. In one aspect, the method includes blending starting fibers of a polypropylene component and a sustainable polymer component under heat to form a molten stream, and then vis-breaking the components to obtain a polymeric blend that is suitable for use in meltblowing applications. The molten stream of the vis-broken polymer components are extruded through a meltblowing die to form a stream of meltblown fibers that is then collected on a collection surface to form a coherent meltblown web. The starting material may be bicomponent filaments having a sheath-core configuration in which the polypropylene component is oriented in the sheath and the sustainable polymer component is oriented in the core of the filaments. The invention is also directed to meltblown fibers and webs prepared from the process.