EFFECTIVE COMMERCIAL ADDITIVES FOR IMPROVING POLY- PROPYLENE FIBRES PROPERTIES BY THE MELT EXTRUSION PROCESS

The effect of three commercial inorganic additives supplied by Ciba Speciality Chemicals, Germany namely, Irgaguard B 5000 (carrier of Ag/ Zn zeolite), Irgaguard B7000 (carrier of Ag / Zn glass) and Irgaguard 1000 (triclosan) on the properties of polypropylene fibers was studied. These additives 0.1- 2 %(w/w) concentrations were well mixed to preheated isotatic PP chips and added into the hopper tanks of a Fourne’ double extruders machine together with purged nitrogen gas and melt extruded at 250ºC to produce the continuous fibers.
Characterization of the produced PP / Irgaguard composite fibers was carried out by Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) and Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) to follow up the thermal stability of fibers, determination of the melting point and the percentage crystallization of the spun fibers. Mechanical properties of the composite fibers including count number, tensile strength, elongation, modulus and tenacity were analyzed and compared to the PP control. Transmission scanning electron microscopy (TEM) was studied to investigate the morphology of the composite fibers. These PP⁄ Irgaguard composite fibers have shown permanent antibacterial activity which was tested against E.coli, S.aureus and the antistatic property was determined.