Environment-friendly recyclable latex-free carpet and preparation method thereof

Abstract

The invention discloses a preparation method of an environment-friendly recyclable latex-free carpet. The carpet structurally comprises a composite structure of a plurality of layers of base cloth and wool yarn arranged in the composite structure in a penetrating mode, raw materials adopted by the base cloth and the wool yarn comprise at least two materials with different melting points, and the base cloth internally comprises a fused and bonded part. The carpet is heated, the high-melting-point components are kept in the original form, the low-melting-point components are molten under the combined action of temperature and pressure, melt flow and molecular diffusion are achieved, the components permeate into the porous structures of the wool yarn and the base cloth, then cooling and curing are conducted, the wool yarn and the multiple layers of base cloth are bonded, and the carpet with the stable structure is formed. The heating method adopts one or more modes of hot rolling, hot air, far infrared rays and flames. The problems of environmental pollution, toxic substance residues, difficulty in recycling and the like of the traditional carpet are solved, so that the carpet is more environment-friendly to produce and use and can be recycled.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to an environmentally friendly and recyclable latex-free carpet and a preparation method thereof, belonging to the technical field of carpets. Background Art

[0002] Carpet is a premium floor covering material offering advantages such as thermal insulation, sound absorption, sound insulation, anti-slip properties, a soft texture, a comfortable feel, and a rich variety of colors. It is widely used in guesthouses, office buildings, hotels, clubs, and residential areas. According to statistics, the global carpet industry market size was estimated at approximately US$41.9 billion in 2024, with consumption reaching 3.666 billion square meters. Common types of woven carpet include tufted carpets, carpet tiles, Axminster carpets, and Wilton carpets. Tufted carpets and carpet tiles are particularly popular for their excellent sound insulation and aesthetically pleasing properties.

[0003] Tufted carpets and carpet tiles are primarily made by needle-feeding pile yarns onto a base fabric to create a neat and dense loop or cut pile. The base fabric and pile yarns are then bonded together using a gluing process to form a solid, integrated whole. However, the production of traditional tufted and carpet tiles presents challenges such as environmental pollution, toxic residues, and difficulty in recycling. The main reasons for this are as follows: 1. The gluing process requires the use of latex, which contains large amounts of benzene and its derivatives. This not only causes air pollution during production, but also toxic residues in the carpet can continuously release odors, affecting product sales and seriously harming consumer health. 2. Carpet components are complex, making separation difficult after being bonded by latex, making recycling challenging. According to statistics, 4-6 million tons of waste carpet are generated globally each year. Unable to be recycled, this waste is primarily disposed of through landfills and incineration, causing significant soil, water, and air pollution. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is that traditional tufted carpets and tile carpets have the problems of environmental pollution, toxic substance residues and difficulty in recycling.

[0005] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an environmentally friendly, recyclable, latex-free carpet, the structure of which includes a composite structure of multiple layers of base cloth and pile yarn inserted into the composite structure. The raw materials used for the base cloth and the pile yarn include at least two materials with different melting points. After heating, the inner part of the carpet is melted and bonded, wherein the base cloth contains a melt-bonded part, that is, the raw material used for the base cloth includes a material with a lower melting point component; the melt-bonded part gives the carpet mechanical properties and stiffness, and the unmelted-bonded part makes the carpet plump, thick and soft.

[0006] Preferably, the base fabric is made of at least one of non-woven fabric, woven fabric, knitted fabric and braided fabric.

[0007] More preferably, the nonwoven fabric is composed of fibers with a high melting point / low melting point core-shell structure, or two fibers with different melting points, or fibers with a high melting point / low melting point core-shell structure and fibers with a higher melting point; the woven fabric, knitted fabric, and braided fabric are composed of one or more combinations of pure spinning yarn, blended yarn, and core-spun yarn, the pure spinning yarn is composed of fibers with a high melting point / low melting point core-shell structure; the blended yarn is composed of two fibers with different melting points, or fibers with a high melting point / low melting point core-shell structure and fibers with a higher melting point; the core-spun yarn is composed of fibers with different melting points, or fibers with a high melting point / low melting point core-shell structure and fibers with a higher melting point, and the covering layer of the core-spun yarn is fibers with a lower melting point or fibers with a high melting point / low melting point core-shell structure.

[0008] Preferably, the velvet yarn is composed of one or more of pure spun yarn, blended yarn, and core-spun yarn, and the yarn of the velvet yarn is at least one of filament and staple fiber.

[0009] More preferably, the pure spun yarn is wool, silk, cotton, jute, viscose, nylon, acrylic, polypropylene or high melting point / low melting point core-shell structure fiber; the blended yarn is composed of one or more fibers of wool, silk, cotton, jute, viscose, nylon, acrylic, polypropylene, high melting point / low melting point core-shell structure fiber and higher melting point fiber, and mixed with lower melting point fiber, and the mass percentage of lower melting point fiber is not more than 90%; the core-spun yarn is composed of two or more fibers of wool, silk, cotton, jute, viscose, nylon, acrylic, polypropylene, lower melting point fiber, high melting point / low melting point core-shell structure fiber and higher melting point fiber, and the covering layer of the core-spun yarn is lower melting point fiber or high melting point / low melting point core-shell structure fiber, and the mass percentage is not more than 90%.

[0010] Preferably, the raw material is polyester, polyamide or polyolefin; the melting point difference between the higher melting point component and the lower melting point component in the raw material is 5-200°C.

[0011] More preferably, the higher melting point component in the raw material includes at least one of polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, polypropylene terephthalate, polyhexamethylene adipamide, polycaprolactam, polyhexamethylene succinamide, polyoctylamide, polynonylamide, polydodecamethyl hexamethylenediamine, polyundecamide, and polypropylene; when the lower melting point component is polyester, the polyester is a single component polymer formed by polycondensation of one or more monomers selected from dibasic acid, diol, alkyd acid, and lactone, or a mixture of two or more of the above polymers; when the lower melting point component is polyamide, the polyamide is a single component polymer formed by polycondensation of one or more monomers selected from dibasic acid, diamine, lactam, and amino acid, or a mixture of the above polymers. A mixture of two or more polymers; when the lower melting point component is a polyolefin, the polyolefin is a single component polymer formed by the condensation polymerization of one or more monomers selected from ethylene, vinyl alcohol, vinyl acetate, vinyl propionate, styrene, vinyl chloride, vinyl dichloride, vinyl formal, vinyl butyral, propylene, acrylonitrile, acrylamide, methacrylamide, acrylic acid, methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, propyl acrylate, butyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate, ethyl methacrylate, propyl methacrylate, butyl methacrylate, butene, pentene, hexene, heptene, octene, methylpentene, butadiene, maleic anhydride, and isoprene, or a mixture of two or more of the above polymers.

[0012] Furthermore, the dibasic acid is at least one of oxalic acid, malonic acid, succinic acid, glutaric acid, adipic acid, pimelic acid, suberic acid, azelaic acid, sebacic acid, undecanedioic acid, dodecanedioic acid, phthalic acid, isophthalic acid, terephthalic acid, hexamethylenediamine, soybean fatty acid, tall oil fatty acid, cottonseed oil dimer fatty acid, and naphthalene dicarboxylic acid; the diol is at least one of ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, butanediol, pentanediol, hexanediol, tetramethylene glycol, cyclohexanedimethanol, and polyethylene glycol; the alcoholic acid is hydroxyacetic acid, hydroxypropionic acid, hydroxybutyric acid, hydroxyvaleric acid, hydroxyhexanoic acid, hydroxyheptanoic acid, hydroxyoctanoic acid, At least one of hydroxynonanoic acid and hydroxydecanoic acid; the lactone is at least one of propiolactone, butyrolactone, valerolactone, caprolactone, enantholactone, octalactone, nonanolactone and decanolactone; the diamine is at least one of ethylenediamine, butanediamine, pentamethylenediamine, hexamethylenediamine, nonanediamine, decanediamine, undecanediamine, dodecanediamine, m-phenylenediamine, p-phenylenediamine, xylylenediamine, polyoxypropylenediamine, triethylenediamine and diethylenetriamine; the lactam is at least one of butyrolactam, valerolactam, caprolactam, undecanelactam and dodecanelactam; the amino acid is at least one of aminoundecanoic acid and aminododecanoic acid.

[0013] More preferably, the carpet is a tufted carpet, a carpet tile, an Axminster carpet, a Wilton carpet, a needlepoint carpet, a handmade carpet or a woven carpet.

[0014] The present invention also provides a method for preparing the above-mentioned environmentally friendly, recyclable latex-free carpet: heating the carpet, and the heating temperature is between the melting points of the lower melting point component and the higher melting point component, so that the higher melting point component maintains its original form, while the lower melting point component melts under the combined action of temperature and pressure, thereby achieving melt flow and molecular diffusion, and infiltrating into the porous structure of the velvet yarn and base cloth, and then cooling and solidifying, so that the velvet yarn and multi-layer base cloth are bonded to each other to form a carpet with a stable structure; the heating method adopts one or more methods selected from hot rollers, hot air, far infrared, and flame.

[0015] The carpet material of this invention is composed of polyester, polyamide, or polyolefin with different melting points, giving the carpet excellent bonding properties and stiffness. Because the carpet does not contain latex, stone powder, or other ingredients, waste carpet can be re-produced into carpet yarn or base fabric through processes such as crushing, granulation, slicing, and spinning, thereby enabling the recycling and reuse of waste carpet. This invention solves the problems of traditional carpets, such as environmental pollution, toxic residues, and difficulty in recycling, making carpet production and use more environmentally friendly and recyclable. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 A schematic structural diagram of the environmentally friendly, recyclable, latex-free carpet provided by the present invention;

[0017] Figure 2 Results related to the preparation of polyethylene terephthalate single-component pile yarn latex-free carpet by hot air reinforcement; A is the pull-out strength data of the pile yarn, and B is an electron microscope image of the carpet cross section;

[0018] Figure 3 Results related to the preparation of latex-free carpets with polycaprolactam single-component velvet yarns reinforced by hot air; A is the pull-out strength data of the velvet yarn, and B is an electron microscope image of a carpet cross section;

[0019] Figure 4 Results related to hot air reinforcement for the preparation of polypropylene single-component pile yarn latex-free carpet; A is the hot air equipment, B is the pressurizing device, and C is the pile yarn extraction strength data;

[0020] Figure 5 Results related to the preparation of polyethylene / polypropylene two-component velvet yarn latex-free carpet by hot air reinforcement; A is the pull-out strength data of the velvet yarn, and B is the electron microscope image of the carpet cross-section. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] To make the present invention more clearly understood, preferred embodiments are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0022] The carpet provided by the present invention is as follows Figure 1 As shown, it is mainly composed of velvet yarn and multi-layer base fabric. Figure 1Only four layers of base fabrics are shown, including base fabric one, base fabric two, base fabric three, and base fabric four. The raw materials are composed of low-melting point and high-melting point polyesters, and partial melting and bonding of the carpet is achieved within a certain temperature range. The bonded part gives the carpet excellent mechanical properties and stiffness, while the unmelted part gives the carpet plump, thick, and soft characteristics.

[0023] Example 1

[0024] like Figure 2 The carpet yarn is polyethylene terephthalate filament, the first and fourth base fabrics are polyethylene terephthalate / polybutylene succinate two-component fiber non-woven fabrics, the second and third base fabrics are polybutylene succinate single-component non-woven fabrics, and are heated by hot air (140-170°C) and matched with a certain pressure (500N / cm), so that the polybutylene succinate melts and flows, penetrates into the porous structure of the carpet, and then solidifies and bonds to form a latex-free carpet. The resulting carpet yarn has a pulling strength of up to 23N.

[0025] Example 2

[0026] like Figure 3 The carpet yarn is polycaprolactam filament, the first and fourth base fabrics are polycaprolactam / polyundecalactam two-component fiber non-woven fabrics, the second and third base fabrics are polyundecalactam single-component non-woven fabrics, and are heated by hot air (170-190°C) and matched with a certain pressure (300-500N / cm) to make the polyundecalactam melt and flow, penetrate into the porous structure of the carpet, and then solidify and bond to form a latex-free carpet. The resulting carpet yarn has a pulling strength of up to 24N.

[0027] Example 3

[0028] like Figure 4 The carpet yarn is a single-component polypropylene filament, and the first, second, third and fourth base fabrics are polypropylene / polyethylene-methyl acrylate two-component fiber non-woven fabrics. They are heated by hot air (140-160°C) and matched with a certain pressure (300-500N / cm) to make the polyethylene-methyl acrylate melt and flow, penetrate into the porous structure of the carpet, and then solidify and bond to form a latex-free carpet. The resulting carpet yarn has a pull-out strength of up to 15N.

[0029] Example 4

[0030] like Figure 5The carpet yarn is polyethylene / polypropylene bicomponent filament, the first and fourth base fabrics are polypropylene / polyethylene-methyl methacrylate bicomponent fiber non-woven fabrics, and the second and third base fabrics are polyethylene-methyl methacrylate single-component non-woven fabrics. They are heated by hot air (140-160°C) and matched with a certain pressure (300-500N / cm) to make the polyethylene-methyl methacrylate melt and flow, penetrate into the porous structure of the carpet, and then solidify and bond to form a latex-free carpet. The resulting carpet yarn has a pulling strength of up to 24N.

Claims

1. An environmentally friendly, recyclable latex-free carpet, characterized in that: The structure of the carpet includes a composite structure of multiple layers of base fabric and pile yarn inserted into the composite structure. The raw materials used for the base fabric and the pile yarn include at least two materials with different melting points. After heating, the inner part of the carpet is melted and bonded. The base fabric includes a melt-bonded part, that is, the raw material used for the base fabric includes a material with a lower melting point component. The melt-bonded part gives the carpet mechanical properties and stiffness, and the unmelted-bonded part makes the carpet plump, thick and soft.

2. The environmentally friendly, recyclable latex-free carpet according to claim 1, characterized in that: The base fabric is made of at least one of non-woven fabric, woven fabric, knitted fabric and braided fabric.

3. The environmentally friendly, recyclable latex-free carpet according to claim 2, characterized in that: The nonwoven fabric is composed of fibers with a high-melting point / low-melting point core-shell structure, or two fibers with different melting points, or fibers with a high-melting point / low-melting point core-shell structure and fibers with a higher melting point; the woven fabric, knitted fabric, and braided fabric are composed of one or more combinations of pure spun yarn, blended yarn, and core-spun yarn. The pure spun yarn is composed of fibers with a high-melting point / low-melting point core-shell structure; the blended yarn is composed of two fibers with different melting points, or fibers with a high-melting point / low-melting point core-shell structure and fibers with a higher melting point; the core-spun yarn is composed of fibers with different melting points, or fibers with a high-melting point / low-melting point core-shell structure and fibers with a higher melting point, and the covering layer of the core-spun yarn is fibers with a lower melting point or fibers with a high-melting point / low-melting point core-shell structure.

4. The environmentally friendly, recyclable latex-free carpet according to claim 1, characterized in that: The velvet yarn is composed of one or more of pure spun yarn, blended yarn and core-spun yarn, and the yarn of the velvet yarn is at least one of filament and staple.

5. The environmentally friendly, recyclable latex-free carpet according to claim 4, characterized in that: The pure spun yarn is made of wool, silk, cotton, jute, viscose, nylon, acrylic, polypropylene or high melting point / low melting point core-shell structure fiber; the blended yarn is composed of one or more fibers selected from wool, silk, cotton, jute, viscose, nylon, acrylic, polypropylene, high melting point / low melting point core-shell structure fiber and higher melting point fiber, and mixed with lower melting point fiber, and the mass percentage of lower melting point fiber is not more than 90%; the core-spun yarn is composed of two or more fibers selected from wool, silk, cotton, jute, viscose, nylon, acrylic, polypropylene, lower melting point fiber, high melting point / low melting point core-shell structure fiber and higher melting point fiber, and the covering layer of the core-spun yarn is lower melting point fiber or high melting point / low melting point core-shell structure fiber, and the mass percentage is not more than 90%.

6. The environmentally friendly, recyclable latex-free carpet according to claim 1, 3 or 5, characterized in that: The raw material is polyester, polyamide or polyolefin; the melting point difference between the higher melting point component and the lower melting point component in the raw material is 5-200°C.

7. The environmentally friendly, recyclable latex-free carpet according to claim 6, characterized in that: The higher melting point component in the raw materials includes at least one of polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, polypropylene terephthalate, polyhexamethylene adipamide, polycaprolactam, polyhexamethylene succinamide, polyoctylamide, polynonylamide, polydodecamethyl hexamethylenediamine, polyundecanamide, and polypropylene; when the lower melting point component is polyester, the polyester is a single component polymer formed by condensation of one or more monomers selected from dibasic acid, diol, alkyd acid, and lactone, or a mixture of two or more of the above polymers; when the lower melting point component is polyamide, the polyamide is a single component polymer formed by condensation of one or more monomers selected from dibasic acid, diamine, lactam, and amino acid, or a mixture of two or more of the above polymers. or a mixture of multiple polymers; when the lower melting point component is a polyolefin, the polyolefin is a single component polymer formed by the condensation polymerization of one or more monomers selected from ethylene, vinyl alcohol, vinyl acetate, vinyl propionate, styrene, vinyl chloride, vinyl dichloride, vinyl formal, vinyl butyral, propylene, acrylonitrile, acrylamide, methacrylamide, acrylic acid, methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, propyl acrylate, butyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate, ethyl methacrylate, propyl methacrylate, butyl methacrylate, butene, pentene, hexene, heptene, octene, methylpentene, butadiene, maleic anhydride, and isoprene, or a mixture of two or more polymers mentioned above.

8. The environmentally friendly, recyclable latex-free carpet according to claim 7, characterized in that: The dibasic acid is at least one of oxalic acid, malonic acid, succinic acid, glutaric acid, adipic acid, pimelic acid, suberic acid, azelaic acid, sebacic acid, undecanedioic acid, dodecanedioic acid, phthalic acid, isophthalic acid, terephthalic acid, hexamethylenediamine, soybean fatty acid, tall oil fatty acid, cottonseed oil dimer fatty acid, and naphthalene dicarboxylic acid; the diol is at least one of ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, butanediol, pentanediol, hexanediol, tetramethylene glycol, cyclohexanedimethanol, and polyethylene glycol; the alcoholic acid is hydroxyacetic acid, hydroxypropionic acid, hydroxybutyric acid, hydroxyvaleric acid, hydroxycaproic acid, hydroxyheptanoic acid, hydroxyoctanoic acid, hydroxy At least one of nonanoic acid and hydroxydecanoic acid; the lactone is at least one of propiolactone, butyrolactone, valerolactone, caprolactone, enantholactone, octanolactone, nonanolactone and decanolactone; the diamine is at least one of ethylenediamine, butanediamine, pentamethylenediamine, hexamethylenediamine, nonanediamine, decanediamine, undecanediamine, dodecanediamine, m-phenylenediamine, p-phenylenediamine, xylylenediamine, polyoxypropylenediamine, triethylenediamine and diethylenetriamine; the lactam is at least one of butyrolactam, valerolactam, caprolactam, undecanelactam and dodecanelactam; the amino acid is at least one of aminoundecanoic acid and aminododecanoic acid.

9. The environmentally friendly, recyclable latex-free carpet according to claim 1, wherein: The carpet is a tufted carpet, a square carpet, an Axminster carpet, a Wilton carpet, a needlepoint carpet, a handmade carpet or a woven carpet.

10. The method for preparing the environmentally friendly, recyclable latex-free carpet according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: The carpet is heated to a temperature between the melting points of the lower melting point component and the higher melting point component, so that the higher melting point component maintains its original form, while the lower melting point component melts under the combined action of temperature and pressure, thereby achieving melt flow and molecular diffusion, and infiltrating into the porous structure of the pile yarn and base cloth. Subsequently, the pile yarn and the multi-layer base cloth are bonded to each other through cooling and solidification to form a structurally stable carpet. The heating method adopts one or more methods selected from hot rollers, hot air, far infrared, and flame.

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