Fibrillation behaviour of man-made cellulosic fibers under microscopic examination

Abstract

Fibrillation of man-made cellulosic fibers is playing an important role on the application in apparel end uses. Investigations to explore fibrillation behaviour have been carried out intensively. In this research, fibrillation behaviour of Tencel, a man-made cellulosic fiber, was studied by microscopic examination. Birefringence, relative crystallinity and intrinsic viscosity of the fibers were examined in order to determine how they might be correlated to the fibrillation index. The fiber samples were treated with commercial cross-linking agent in various conditions to control the degree of fibrillation. The fiber birefringence was observed by polarized optical microscope, intrinsic viscosity was measured by the viscosity method and crystallinity was determined by X-Ray diffraction method. The results showed that the higher fiber structure oriented along the fiber axis, the higher tendency of fibrillation occurred. On the other hand, the fibrillationdecreased when the molecular weight as well as the intrinsic viscosity increased. The application when high fibrillation is needed, increase of relative crystallinity during fiber production is proposed. However, defibrillation finishing by cross-linking agent is suggested for controlling the fibrillation at low level. In addition, simple linear relationships between each parameter to the fibrillation index are also presented.