Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
38th International Conference of the Polymer Processing Society (PPS38), Sankt Gallen, İsviçre, 22 - 26 Mayıs 2023, cilt.38, ss.80
Biodegradable
polymers have gained lots of interest and publicity. However, narrow processing
window limits the application of such novel polymers. Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs)
are member of biodegradable thermoplastic polyesters, biologically derived by
bacterial fermentation. These biodegradable, compostable and biocompatible
polymers are of great interest in the production of medical textiles, disposable
materials and packaging. Slow crystallization rate and low thermal stability of
PHAs limits the melt spinning of fibers and results in inadequate mechanical
properties. Among PHAs, poly(3-hydroxybutyrate)-co-(3-hydroxyvalerate) PHBV is more
flexible and easier to process due to lower crystallinity. Therefore, in this study, we have used bicomponent spinning method
to produce melt-spun PHBV fibers. As a
semi-crystalline polymer with slow crsytallization rate and low thermal
stability, PHBV remains tacky during drawing in the spinline that hinders the
spinnability. A very important advantage of the bicomponent spinning is that it
could help a material that could not be spun into a fiber single form. For
this study, the two polymers coaxially combined in a spinneret for bicomponent
multifilament with core/sheath-geometry. The co-extrusion of a PHBV core and a polyvinyl
alcohol (PVA) sheath having a higher thermal stability and faster
crystallization enabled the stable winding of filaments. Following the filament
production, the filaments were soaked in distilled water to remove PVA sheath and
PHBV micro fibers were obtained. Thermal analysis obtained revealed that the
complete removal of PVA was possible. Microscopic analysis showed that PHBV microfilaments
(single filament diameter < 7 µm) have been successfully melt-spun.