JP2011202301A - Polyester fiber for spunlace nonwoven fabric - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a fiber supplied with a fiber treatment agent that supplies a fiber with excellent cardability, frictional characteristics and antistatic performance in a nonwoven fabric processed by a spunlace method and has excellent interlacing properties and processability in an interlacing step by a water jet, water-absorbing and low foaming properties.SOLUTION: The polyester fiber for spunlace nonwoven fabric is coated with a fiber treatment comprising (A) a 12-18C alkyl group-containing alkyl phosphate salt, (B) at least one nonionic surfactant selected from an alkyl ether type nonionic surfactant, an alkyl amine type nonionic surfactant and a polyhydric alcohol fatty acid ester type nonionic surfactant. Component (A) comprises a plurality of alkyl phosphate salts containing (A1) a 12C alkyl group-containing alkyl phosphate salt and (A2) a 18C alkyl group-containing alkyl phosphate salt in a weight ratio of component (A1) to component (A2) of 60:40-80:20 and in a weight ratio of component (A) to component (B) of 60:40-80:20.

Description

  The present invention relates to a polyester fiber used for producing a nonwoven fabric by a high-pressure water flow method. Specifically, the nonwoven fabric by the spunlace method, which has excellent antistatic properties and process passability in the carding process due to rayon mixing especially during the manufacture of the nonwoven fabric, and is also excellent in hydrophilicity and low foaming property during high-pressure water flow treatment. It relates to a polyester fiber suitable for the production of

  Conventionally, synthetic fibers typified by polyester and polyamide are widely used for clothing and industrial materials because they are excellent in various properties such as strength, heat resistance, chemical resistance, and wash and wear properties. Among them, polyester fiber has recently been expected to play an important role in the non-woven fabric field, especially in the field of hygiene materials such as baby diapers and diaper liners, sanitary products, counterclothes for the food service industry, living materials such as wet tissues, and kitchen utensils. It has been widely used in non-hygienic material fields such as draining bags for sinks and medical fields such as poultice base fabrics and fixing sheets, surgical gowns for hospitals, and masks. In particular, polyester fibers have come to be used for the purpose of cost reduction and bulkiness in dry wiper and wet wiper applications in the field of living materials that have mainly used cotton and rayon.

  In addition, as a method for producing a nonwoven fabric, there are a method of bonding a fibrous material with a binder (adhesion method) and a method of interlacing fibers by applying a needle punch to the web of the fibrous material (needle punch method) The fiber entangled method (spun lace method) with jet water flow causes less fiber damage compared to the needle punch method, so it has excellent physical properties such as strength, elongation, and toughness, and draping properties. A nonwoven fabric suitable for use in various fields such as daily life materials can be obtained.

  The process of producing a nonwoven fabric by the spunlace method is roughly divided into a card process for forming a web and a spunlace process for entanglement of fibers by a jet high-pressure water stream. In the card process for forming a web, it is usually required to suppress frictional characteristics that easily pass through the card and static electricity. On the other hand, in the spunlace process in which fibers are entangled with a high-pressure water stream, hydrophilicity that allows water to pass between fibers is required for the jet water stream, and bubbles and scum are hardly generated in the circulating water used for the jet water stream. It is required to have physical properties such that the circulating water used for the water flow is not easily polluted. In addition, the process for producing a nonwoven fabric by the spunlace method is usually carried out as a series of continuous web forming process using a card and entanglement process using a high-pressure water stream. It is necessary to have the characteristics required in the manufacturing process and the characteristics required in the confounding process at the same time. In order to impart these required characteristics to the fiber, a fiber surface treatment agent containing a surfactant is attached to the fiber surface.

  By the way, in order to suppress the foaming of the surfactant in the fiber surface treatment agent, conventionally, a technique of adding a mineral oil-based or silicone-based antifoaming agent has been employed. However, since these antifoaming agents are used dispersed in a surfactant, if this treatment agent is used for the above-mentioned spunlace method, it will agglomerate in the circulating water and cause clogging of the filter, or clogging of the nozzle of high-pressure water flow. It is difficult to use it for the span lace method.

  In addition, as a fiber treatment agent for the production of spunlace nonwoven fabrics that can impart excellent smoothness to fibers and lower the foamability of aqueous solutions, a compound of a specific dibasic acid and a diol and a specific alkyl phosphate ester salt A fiber treatment agent using a combination of (octyl phosphate potassium salt, etc.) has been proposed (Patent Document 1). However, even with this treatment formulation, the foaming suppression effect was not sufficient. Further, this Patent Document 1 describes that an alkyl phosphate ester salt having an alkyl group having 6 to 10 carbon atoms is preferable because the alkyl phosphate of the alkyl phosphate salt is likely to foam when the alkyl group exceeds 10 carbon atoms. ing.

JP 2003-328272 A

  The present invention can impart to a fiber friction characteristics and antistatic performance that are easy to pass through a card machine in the card process in the production of nonwoven fabric by the spunlace method, and it is hydrophilic in the spunlace process (entanglement process by jet water flow). It aims at providing the fiber which provided the fiber processing agent which was excellent and it was hard to foam.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following configuration.

  That is, the polyester fiber for spunlace nonwoven fabric of the present invention comprises (A) an alkyl phosphate ester salt having an alkyl group having 12 to 18 carbon atoms, (B) an alkyl ether type nonion, an alkylamine type nonion, and a polyhydric alcohol. It comprises at least one nonionic surfactant selected from the group of fatty acid ester type nonions, and the component (A) comprises (A1) an alkyl phosphate ester salt having 12 alkyl atoms and (A2) an alkyl group. And an alkyl phosphate ester salt containing 18 alkyl phosphate salts, the weight ratio of the component (A1) to the component (A2) is 60:40 to 80:20, and The fiber processing agent whose weight ratio of (A) component and (B) component is 60: 40-80: 20 is adhering.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the fiber processing agent which consists of (A) component and (B) component has adhered 0.1 to 1.0 wt% with respect to fiber weight.

  The fiber treatment agent for producing the polyester spunlace nonwoven fabric of the present invention includes (A) an alkyl phosphate ester salt having an alkyl group having 12 to 18 carbon atoms, (B) an alkyl ether type nonion, an alkylamine type nonion, and a polyvalent compound. It comprises at least one nonionic surfactant selected from the group of alcohol fatty acid ester type nonions, and the component (A) comprises (A1) an alkyl phosphate salt having an alkyl group having 12 carbon atoms, and (A2) an alkyl. A group consisting of a plurality of alkyl phosphate ester salts including an alkyl phosphate salt having 18 carbon atoms, wherein the weight ratio of the component (A1) to the component (A2) is 60:40 to 80:20, and The weight ratio of the component (A) to the component (B) is 60:40 to 80:20.

  The polyester fiber according to the present invention, when producing a non-woven fabric by the spunlace method, is capable of obtaining an excellent web efficiently without causing a concern of being wound around a card cylinder or the like in the web production process, and jetting the web. In the step of entanglement by the water flow, there is no concern that the nonwoven fabric will be insufficiently entangled, and furthermore, there will be no concern that the circulating water will foam and there will be no concern of reducing operability (productivity).

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail.

  The polyester constituting the polyester fiber of the present invention is a polymer produced by a condensation reaction between terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol or butylene glycol, and sebacic acid, adipic acid, trimellitic acid, isophthalic acid, paraoxybenzoic acid. Is a condensate of ethylene glycol, butylene glycol, and other polyester polymers including other polyesters, but is not particularly limited. These polyesters may be melt-spun by a conventional method and drawn to produce fibers for spunlace nonwoven fabric.

  The polyester fiber of the present invention is provided with a fiber treatment agent comprising the following component (A) (specific alkyl phosphate ester salt) and component (B) (specific surfactant).

  Examples of the alkyl phosphate ester salt of component (A) include sodium salts, potassium salts, ammonium salts, monoethanolamine salts, diethanolamine salts, triethanolamine salts and the like of alkyl phosphates having an alkyl group with 12 to 18 carbon atoms. Can be mentioned. This alkyl phosphate ester salt is obtained by adding an alkyl phosphate obtained by subjecting an aliphatic alcohol to a phosphorylating agent such as phosphorus pentoxide or phospholine chloride, sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, monoethanolamine, diethanolamine, It is produced by neutralization with an alkali such as ethanolamine.

  In the present invention, the alkyl phosphate ester salt includes (A1) an alkyl phosphate ester salt having an alkyl group having 12 carbon atoms and (A2) an alkyl phosphate ester salt having an alkyl group having 18 carbon atoms. It is necessary to consist of ester salts.

  When only the alkyl phosphate ester salt having (A1) alkyl group having 12 carbon atoms is blended as the alkyl phosphate ester salt, the foam suppression effect is not sufficient, and (A2) the alkyl phosphate having 18 carbon atoms in the alkyl group. In the case where only the ester salt is blended, since the antistatic property is not sufficient, the combined use of the component (A1) and the component (A2) is necessary. The ratio of (A1) component and (A2) component is 60: 40-80: 20 by weight ratio. (A1) When there are too few components (A2) and there are too many components, the anti-electrical-proof effect is not enough. Moreover, when there are too many (A1) components and there are too few (A2) components, the foam suppression effect is not enough.

  The (A) component alkyl phosphate ester salt includes the (A1) component and the (A2) component as essential components. In addition, the alkyl phosphate ester salt having an alkyl group with 14 carbon atoms or the alkyl group with a carbon number of 14 It may contain 16 alkyl phosphate ester salts. On the other hand, the alkyl phosphate ester salt having an alkyl group having less than 12 carbon atoms is liable to be dissolved in water, which causes a problem of increased foaming in the circulating water in the spunlace process, and the alkyl group has 18 carbon atoms. Alkyl phosphate ester salts exceeding 1 are unsuitable because the antistatic performance becomes poor and the problem of poor passability in the card process arises.

  Further, as the component (B), one or more nonionic surfactants selected from the group of alkyl ether type nonions, alkylamine type nonions, and polyhydric alcohol fatty acid ester type nonions are used. As the alkyl ether type nonion that can be used as the component (B), polyoxyethylene lauryl ether and polyoxyethylene castor oil ether are preferable. As the alkylamine type nonion, polyoxyethylene lauryl amino ether is preferable. Furthermore, polyoxyethylene sorbitan laurate is preferable as the polyhydric alcohol fatty acid ester type nonion.

  In the fiber treatment agent adhering to the polyester fiber of the present invention, the component (A) and the component (B) are contained in a weight ratio of (A) :( B) = 60: 40 to 80:20. However, it is preferable to contain (A) :( B) = 65: 35-75: 25. When the proportion of the component (A) is less than the above range, the defoaming property is lowered. When the proportion of the component (A) is more than the above range, the antistatic performance is lowered and the passability in the card process is lowered.

  The fiber treatment agent of the present invention described above is imparted to the polyester fiber for spunlace nonwoven fabric, and other components may be blended as long as the effects of the present invention are not impaired.

  Further, when the fiber treatment agent of the present invention is applied to the surface of the polyester fiber, it is used as a solution diluted with a solvent such as water, particularly an aqueous solution. The concentration of the fiber treatment agent in this aqueous solution may be about 1 to 10 wt%.

  The polyester fiber of the present invention is a polyester fiber produced from the above-described polyester polymer by a melt spinning method, and the above-described fiber treatment agent is attached to the fiber surface. It is preferable that the adhesion amount of the fiber processing agent which consists of a polyester (A) component and (B) component is 0.1-1.0 wt% with respect to fiber weight. If it is less than 0.1 wt%, troubles such as generation of static electricity and deterioration of water absorption are likely to occur. Moreover, when it exceeds 1.0 wt%, foaming in the spunlace process tends to increase. The adhesion amount of the oil agent is more preferably 0.15 to 0.25 wt%.

  As the yarn production method for producing the polyester fiber of the present invention, the above-mentioned polyester polymer is melt-spun, cooled, applied with a spinning oil agent, taken up, stretched, and subjected to heat treatment, crimping or shorting as necessary. Examples of the method for fiberizing are illustrated. The form of the fiber is not particularly limited, but is preferably a crimped short fiber suitable for a nonwoven fabric. In the case of crimped short fibers, the single yarn fineness is preferably 2.2 dtex or less, the number of crimps is preferably 10 crests / 25 mm or more, the crimping degree is preferably 12% or more, and the fiber length is 51 mm or less. Preferably, 38 mm to 51 mm is more preferable. In addition, the cross-sectional shape of the polyester short fiber may be any shape such as a round shape or an irregular shape.

  The polyester fiber of the present invention is used for the production of a spunlace nonwoven fabric. A web is formed by a carding process by a conventional method, and the fibers are entangled by a jet high-pressure water stream by a spunlace process to produce a spunlace nonwoven fabric.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to examples. Various characteristics in the following examples and comparative examples were determined by the following methods.
[Card passability (1)]
3g of treated cotton is pre-opened and uniformly arranged on the lattice of the sample roller card with a supply length of 50cm and a width of 20cm. After the raw cotton is supplied to the feed roller at a spinning speed of 10m / min, all the cotton is removed from the doffer. The time (second) to exit was measured. The temperature and humidity conditions were 25 ° C. and 40% RH. From the measured values, good (◯) and no (x) were evaluated according to the following criteria.
○: Passing time within 150 seconds Δ: Passing time 151 seconds to 200 seconds ×: Passing time 201 seconds or more

[Card passability (2)]
3g of treated cotton is pre-opened, and the amount of raw cotton (g) recovered from the doffer when the feed length is 50cm, the width is 20cm, and is spun at 10m / min. It was measured. The temperature and humidity conditions were 25 ° C. and 40% RH. From the measured amount of raw cotton, the ratio (%) of the recovered amount to the supplied amount was calculated, and good (◯) or no (×) was evaluated according to the following criteria.
○: Recovery rate 96 to 100%
Δ: Recovery rate 90 to 95%
×: Recovery rate 89% or less

[Antistatic]
The amount of static electricity (V) generated on the web surface of the doffer when spinning at a spinning speed of 10 m / min with a sample roller card under conditions of temperature and humidity of 25 ° C x 40% RH Measured with a measuring instrument. From the measured values, good (◯) and no (x) were evaluated according to the following criteria.
○: 0 to -100V
Δ: −101 to −300V
×: −301V or more

[Foamability]
100 g of treated cotton is immersed in 500 cc of water for 10 minutes, 300 cc of the squeezed solution is placed in a 500 cc beaker, stirred with a homomixer at 6000 rpm for 5 minutes, and the foam height (mm) after 5 minutes has elapsed from immediately after stirring is stopped. It was measured. From the measured values, good (◯) and no (x) were evaluated according to the following criteria.
○: 10 mm or less Δ: 11 mm to 20 mm
×: 21 mm or more

[Hydrophilic]
The treated cotton is passed through a card, and 5 g of the obtained web is packed in 3 g of a polypropylene mesh basket to prepare a sample. 1 L of pure water at room temperature was put into a 1 L beaker, and the time from when the sample was dropped onto the water surface until it completely sinked to the beaker bottom was measured. From the measured values, good (◯) and no (x) were evaluated according to the following criteria.
○: 10 seconds or less △: 11-15 seconds ×: 16 seconds or more

Example 1
As component (A), lauryl phosphate potassium salt 42% by weight, stearyl phosphate ester potassium salt 18% by weight, and as component (B) polyoxyethylene lauryl amino ether 25% by weight, polyoxyethylene sorbitan laurate 15% by weight And fiber treatment agent A, and a 3% aqueous solution thereof was prepared.

  Using ordinary polyethylene terephthalate, melt spinning by a conventional method, cooling, applying a spinning oil agent, drawing at a pulling speed of 1100 m / min, and then stretching at a speed of 150 m / min and a magnification of 3.8 times (Single yarn fineness 1.6 dtex), and then 14 crimps / 25 mm, after applying 15% crimp, the fiber treatment agent A was passed through a 3% aqueous solution of 0.2% by weight. %, Dried at 80 ° C., and further cut to 51 mm to produce a treated polyester raw cotton. The obtained treated raw cotton was evaluated according to the above criteria. The results are shown in Table 1.

(Example 2)
As component (A), lauryl phosphate potassium salt 56% by weight, stearyl phosphate ester potassium salt 24% by weight, and as component (B) polyoxyethylene lauryl amino ether 15% by weight, polyoxyethylene sorbitan laurate 5% by weight And fiber treatment agent B, and a 3% aqueous solution thereof was prepared.

  A treated polyester raw cotton was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the fiber treatment agent to be applied to the polyester tow after crimping was changed to the above treatment liquid B. The obtained treated raw cotton was evaluated according to the previous criteria. The results are shown in Table 1.

(Example 3)
As component (A), lauryl phosphate potassium salt 50% by weight, stearyl phosphate ester potassium salt 20% by weight, and as component (B) polyoxyethylene lauryl amino ether 20% by weight, polyoxyethylene sorbitan laurate 10% by weight. Were mixed to prepare a fiber treatment agent C and a 3% aqueous solution thereof.

  A treated polyester raw cotton was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the fiber treatment agent to be applied to the polyester tow after crimping was changed to the treatment liquid C. The obtained treated raw cotton was evaluated according to the above criteria. The results are shown in Table 1.

Example 4
As component (A), 50% by weight of lauryl phosphate potassium salt, 20% by weight of stearyl phosphate potassium salt, and as component (B), 10% by weight of polyoxyethylene lauryl ether, 10% by weight of polyoxyethylene castor oil ether, 10% by weight of polyoxyethylene sorbitan laurate was blended to prepare fiber treating agent D, and a 3% aqueous solution thereof was prepared.

  A treated polyester raw cotton was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the fiber treatment agent to be applied to the polyester tow after crimping was changed to the above treatment liquid D. The obtained treated raw cotton was evaluated according to the above criteria. The results are shown in Table 1.

(Comparative Example 1)
As component (A), 35% by weight of lauryl phosphate potassium salt, 15% by weight of stearyl phosphate potassium salt, and as component (B), 10% by weight of polyoxyethylene lauryl ether, 30% by weight of polyoxyethylene lauryl amino ether, 10% by weight of polyoxyethylene sorbitan laurate was blended to prepare fiber treating agent E, and a 3% aqueous solution thereof was prepared.

  A treated polyester raw cotton was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the fiber treatment agent to be imparted to the crimped polyester tow was changed to the treatment liquid E. The obtained treated raw cotton was evaluated according to the above criteria. The results are shown in Table 1.

(Comparative Example 2)
As a component (A), 63% by weight of lauryl phosphate potassium salt, 27% by weight of stearyl phosphate potassium salt, and 10% by weight of polyoxyethylene lauryl amino ether as component (B) are used as a fiber treatment agent F. The 3% aqueous solution was prepared.
A treated polyester raw cotton was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the fiber treatment agent to be applied to the polyester tow after crimping was changed to the above treatment liquid F. The obtained treated raw cotton was evaluated according to the above criteria. The results are shown in Table 1.

(Comparative Example 3)
(A) 70% by weight of stearyl phosphate potassium salt as component, and 20% by weight of polyoxyethylene laurylamino ether and 10% by weight of polyoxyethylene sorbitan laurate as component (B) And a 3% aqueous solution thereof was prepared.
A treated polyester raw cotton was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the fiber treatment agent applied to the polyester tow after crimping was changed to the treatment liquid G. The obtained treated raw cotton was evaluated according to the above criteria. The results are shown in Table 1.

(Comparative Example 4)
(A) 70% by weight of lauryl phosphate potassium salt as component, and 20% by weight of polyoxyethylene lauryl amino ether and 10% by weight of polyoxyethylene sorbitan laurate as component (B) are used as a fiber treatment agent H. And a 3% aqueous solution thereof was prepared.
A treated polyester raw cotton was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the fiber treatment agent to be applied to the polyester tow after crimping was changed to the above treatment liquid H. The obtained treated raw cotton was evaluated according to the above criteria. The results are shown in Table 1.

(Comparative Example 5)
(A) 70% by weight of octyl phosphate potassium salt as component, and 20% by weight of polyoxyethylene lauryl amino ether and 10% by weight of polyoxyethylene sorbitan laurate as component (B) And a 3% aqueous solution thereof was prepared.
A treated polyester raw cotton was produced in the same manner as in Example 1, except that the fiber treatment agent to be applied to the polyester tow after crimping was changed to the above treatment liquid I. The obtained treated raw cotton was evaluated according to the above criteria. The results are shown in Table 1.

  The polyester fiber of the present invention is suitable for use in producing a nonwoven fabric by a spunlace method, and can be produced efficiently through a series of steps up to nonwoven fabric processing. Moreover, since the obtained nonwoven fabric is excellent in shape retention compared with rayon and is an inexpensive material, it can be widely applied to uses such as wipers for living materials, and its industrial value is extremely large.

Claims (3)

(A) at least one selected from the group consisting of an alkyl phosphate salt having 12 to 18 carbon atoms in the alkyl group, and (B) an alkyl ether type nonion, an alkylamine type nonion, and a polyhydric alcohol fatty acid ester type nonion Nonionic surfactant
The component (A) is composed of (A1) a plurality of alkyl phosphate ester salts including an alkyl phosphate salt having an alkyl group having 12 carbon atoms and (A2) an alkyl phosphate ester salt having an alkyl group having 18 carbon atoms. ,
The weight ratio of the component (A1) to the component (A2) is 60:40 to 80:20, and
A polyester fiber for spunlace nonwoven fabric, wherein a fiber treatment agent having a weight ratio of the component (A) to the component (B) of 60:40 to 80:20 is adhered.   2. The polyester fiber for spunlace nonwoven fabric according to claim 1, wherein the fiber treatment agent comprising the component (A) and the component (B) is attached in an amount of 0.1 to 1.0 wt% based on the fiber weight. (A) at least one selected from the group consisting of an alkyl phosphate salt having 12 to 18 carbon atoms in the alkyl group, and (B) an alkyl ether type nonion, an alkylamine type nonion, and a polyhydric alcohol fatty acid ester type nonion Nonionic surfactant
The component (A) is composed of (A1) a plurality of alkyl phosphate ester salts including an alkyl phosphate salt having an alkyl group having 12 carbon atoms and (A2) an alkyl phosphate ester salt having an alkyl group having 18 carbon atoms. ,
The weight ratio of the component (A1) to the component (A2) is 60:40 to 80:20, and
A fiber treatment agent for producing a polyester spunlace nonwoven fabric, wherein the weight ratio of the component (A) to the component (B) is 60:40 to 80:20.