Fibrillation refers to the splitting of tiny microfibrils (1-4 um in diameter) on the fiber surface. Alfa Chemistry offers a variety of fibrillated fibers, such as fibrillated polypropylene fibers, fibrillated cellulose, and more.
What is fibrillation?
Fibrillation refers to the process of separating fibers into finer fibers or fibrils of smaller diameter. Fibrillation can be used to improve fabric properties such as strength, absorbency, surface area, hand and opacity.
The fibrillation index (F.I.) is used to characterize the degree of fibrillation, which is generally divided into 0-10 grades. The higher the grade, the more severe the fibrillation degree. The factors affecting the degree of fibrillation mainly include temperature, treatment time and pH value.
Research and Application
- Fibrillated Aramid Fiber
Kangli Xu et al. triggered the surface fibrillation process of p-aramid microfibers to generate a large number of nanofibers in nonwovens without disturbing the three-dimensional nonwoven structure. In this work, the fibrillated nonwoven exhibits an 84.7% higher filtration efficiency and exhibits higher catalyst loading capacity. This means the potential application of fibrillated aramid fiber nonwovens in industrial emissions, vehicle exhaust and indoor air purification. [1]
Para-aramid nonwoven composed of both micro- and nanofibers is loaded with CuOCeO2 to remove solid and gaseous pollutants.
- Fibrillated Polypropylene Fibers
Fibrillated polypropylene fibers can be used to enhance the properties of concrete materials. These fiber materials are lightweight, corrosion-resistant and strong, making them an excellent choice for external reinforcement. The fibrillated polypropylene fibers form a mesh or net type structure, which has a positive effect on the spalling behavior, permeability, impact strength, etc. of concrete. [2] - Fibrillated Cellulose
Fibers containing cellulose can be broken down into building blocks, called fibrillated cellulose, with variable, controllable dimensions extending down to the nanometer scale. Fibrillated cellulose has sustainable and functional properties (such as mechanical, optical, thermal, and fluid), thus showing potential applications in the fabrication of materials ranging from composites and macro-fibers to thin films, porous membranes, and gels. For example, a summary of fibrillated cellulose for far-term technologies is shown as figure below, including optoelectronics, solar cells, filtration, ion selectivity, solar desalination, and biological applications. [3]
Fibrillated cellulose for far-term technologies.
References
- Kangli Xu, et al. J. Mater. Chem. A, 2020,8, 22269-22279.
- Vikrant S. Vairagade, et al. International Journal of Engineering Research and Applications, 2012, 2(3), 1111-1115.
- Tian Li, et al. Nature, 2021, 590, 47–56.
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