Fibre Chemistry, Vol. 37, No.

3, 2005

PORE STRUCTURE OF HEAT-TREATED NONWOVEN MATERIALS

E. K. Savel’eva, A. V. Dedov, UDC 675.92.035

E. S. Bokova, and G. P. Andrianova

The pore structure of heat-treated nonwoven materials is determined by the conditions of heating and cooling
them. The effect of the shrinkage properties of a bicomponent fibre on the pore structure of the materials is
manifested at a treatment temperature above the melting point of polypropylene.

The effectiveness of using nonwoven materials for filtration and as fibrous sorbents is basically determined by their
pore structure. At the same time, the mechanical properties of these materials should ensure resistance to development of
deformation. The comprehensive requirements imposed on filtering materials and fibrous sorbents have made it necessary to
combine mutually exclusive characteristics such as low density and high mechanical strength.
One possible method of obtaining highly porous and strong materials involves to addition of shrinkable fibres to the
nonwovens and conducting heat treatment in the final stage of production. The proposed methods of formula and process
modification of nonwovens can affect their pore structure. In studying the formation of the pore structure in nonwovens
containing polypropylene fibres in [1], it was previously shown that this process takes place in conditions of significant shrinkage
over the area of the material and changes in the initial structure formed in the needle-punching stage. The change in the
structure of the materials causes the formation of closed pores unavailable for transfer of gases and liquids in the bulk of the
materials.
We investigated pore structure formation in nonwovens containing bicomponent fibres treated with heat at different
temperatures. Nonwovens made of a blend of polyester fibres with a linear density of 0.33 tex (TU 6-13-0204077-95-91) and
0.44 tex bicomponent fibre with an outer polypropylene shell and a poly(ethylene terephthalate) core (South Korea) were
investigated. The materials contained 20 and 40 wt. % bicomponent fibres. The samples of the nonwoven material were made
by the mechanical method of spinning the fibre web followed by needle-punching at a punching density of 160 p./cm2.
The real (Vr) and apparent (Va) pore volumes of samples with an area of 100 cm2, determined with the following
equations [2], were used as the pore structure characteristics of the initial and thermostated materials:
m1
Vr = V1 − , (1)
ρ

m2 − m1
Va = , (2)
ρw
where V1 is the volume of the sample, cm3 (according to GOST 3811-72); m1 is the weight of the sample, g; ρ is the density of
the fibre blend determined pyknometrically and equal to 1.21 g/cm3; m2 is the weight of the sample after holding in water, g; ρw
is the density of the liquid (water), g/cm3.
To determine the apparent pore volume, the disk-shaped samples were placed in distilled water for two days. After
removal from the water, the samples were placed on a screen and left there until all of the liquid had drained. The samples were
weighed in a plastic container of known weight, which excluded losses of water in handling the samples during the experiment.
The dependence of the real and apparent pore volumes of the materials on the heat-treatment temperature is shown in
Fig. 1. The values of Vr and Va of the initial materials with a different bicomponent fibre content are almost the same. The

Moscow State University of Design and Technology. Translated from Khimicheskie Volokna, No. 3, pp. 41-43,
May—June, 2005.

202 0015-0541/05/3703-0202 © 2005 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.

 3
Vr, Va, cm
t, °C

Fig. 1. Real pore volume vs. temperature of heat treatment of

materials containing 20 (1) and 40 wt. % (2) bicomponent fibre
and overall temperature curve of the apparent pore volume (3) for
these materials. Point a corresponds to the characteristics of the
pore structure of the initial materials.

result obtained indicates that materials with a communicating pore system with a high capacity for absorbing and retaining
water are formed during needle-punching.
In comparison to the initial materials, the fabrics treated with heat at temperatures below 175°C have higher Vr. A
further increase in the heat treatment temperature decreases the porosity of the materials, and an increase in the bicomponent
fibre content at the same treatment temperature ensures higher porosity. At the same time, a general tendency toward a
decrease in Va with an increase in the heat-treatment temperature is observed for materials with a different bicomponent fibre
content.
The character of the curves shown in Fig. 1 can be attributed to the effect of the heat-treatment conditions on the
structure of the fibre-forming polymers and the shrinkage properties of the bicomponent fibre. The heat-treatment conditions
and temperature characteristics of the fibre-forming polymers show that the most important changes take place in the structure
of the polypropylene forming the shell of the bicomponent fibres. The structural rearrangement of the polypropylene is
determined by heating it to a temperature below or above the melting point of the polymer.
At a heat-treatment temperature below the melting point of polypropylene, it crystallizes, which is not complete or is
deliberately suppressed in the manufacturing technology for the bicomponent fibre by co-extrusion. Crystallization of
polypropylene increases the rigidity of the bicomponent fibres, which causes of partial straightening. Such behavior of the
bicomponent fibres basically increases the thickness of the materials. The primary increase in the thickness of the samples is
due to the vertical orientation of most of the fibres attained in the needle-punching stage. We can state with a high degree of
probability that straightening of the bicomponent fibres also causes displacement of the polyester fibres. The overall result is
an increase in the pore size at a relatively low heat-treatment temperature (see Fig. 1).
At a high heat-treatment temperature, formation of the pore structure of the materials begins to be determined by the
shrinkage properties of the bicomponent fibres. With an increase in the temperature, the effect of the shrinkage properties of
the bicomponent fibres becomes determining, and this decreases the porosity of the materials. Crystallization of polypropylene
due to melting at the high heat-treatment temperature affects pore structure formation to a lesser degree. The possible effect of
crystallization of polypropylene on the pore structure of the materials can be manifested in the cooling stage.
The proposed mechanism of pore structure formation in the heat-treated materials does not explain the shape of the
temperature curve of the apparent pore volume (see Fig. 1). The slight contradiction is due to the monotonic decrease in Va in
the entire heat-treatment temperature range, including below the melting point of polypropylene.
The decrease in the apparent pore volume at a temperature below the melting point of polypropylene is the consequence
of an increase in the size of some of the pores above the critical value and the losses due to the ability to retain water after
removal of the samples [2, 3]. We can hypothesize that the mobility of the bicomponent fibres is realized to a greater degree
in large pores, which is due to a decrease in the number of contacts between fibres.
With an increase in the heat-treatment temperature, shrinkage of the materials is the cause of the decrease in their
porosity, which brings the mechanism of formation of the porosity of materials containing bicomponent fibres closer to the
mechanism of formation of the porosity of materials with a polypropylene fibre.

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REFERENCES

1. A. V. Dedov, S. V. Babushkin, et al., Khim. Volokna, No. 1, 33-35 (2001).

2. A. V. Dedov, S. V. Babushkin, et al., Khim. Volokna, No. 5, 56-58 (2001).
3. S. S. Voyutskii, Physicochemical Principles of Impregnation and Permeation of Fibrous Materials by Disperse Polymers
[in Russian], Khimiya, Moscow (1969).

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