Water soluble fibers with post process modifications and articles containing same
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional nonwoven webs made from materials like viscose and polypropylene are non-sustainable, contribute to microplastics, and pose disposal challenges due to improper solubility profiles, making it difficult to achieve desired solubility properties in fibers post-fiber formation.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the use of a hydrolysis agent solution to increase the degree of hydrolysis of polymers in fibers, such as those with vinyl acetate or vinyl alcohol moieties, allowing for post-processing modification of solubility profiles, including core-sheath structures and gradients, to create fibers with controlled solubility and enhanced properties.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If fiber forming materials are selected with specific degree of hydrolysis and degree of polymerization to achieve desired solubility profile, then solubility characteristics are improved, but the fiber forming material may not survive the fiber making process
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by forming fibers first using materials with lower degree of hydrolysis (easier to process) and then performing post-process hydrolysis modification to achieve the desired high degree of hydrolysis and solubility profile. This reverses the traditional sequence of achieving solubility before fiber formation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes parameter changes by modifying the degree of hydrolysis of the polymer after fiber formation through controlled hydrolysis treatment. This allows the fiber structure to be established first, then the chemical composition parameters are adjusted to achieve target solubility characteristics.
2Ease of manufacture
If traditional nonwoven web materials like viscose and polypropylene are used, then manufacturing is easier, but they are non-sustainable and contribute to microplastics
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material composition parameter by using water-soluble polymers (such as polyvinyl alcohol, cellulose derivatives, starch derivatives) instead of traditional hydrophobic materials like polypropylene. This material substitution eliminates microplastic formation while maintaining manufacturability through established nonwoven web processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the traditionally harmful property of non-biodegradability into a beneficial feature by selecting polymers that are specifically designed to be water-soluble and biodegradable. The materials that would normally persist as microplastics are instead engineered to dissolve completely in water, turning an environmental hazard into an eco-friendly solution.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If fibers are made to be water-soluble for sustainable disposal, then environmental friendliness is improved, but control over solubility profile becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent achieves precise control over solubility profile by systematically adjusting multiple parameters including degree of hydrolysis, degree of polymerization, and molecular weight of the water-soluble polymer. These parameter variations allow customization of dissolution rates and temperature dependencies to match specific application requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by creating nonwoven webs with spatially varying properties through differential fiber distribution, blending different polymer types in specific ratios, or applying surface treatments to specific regions. This allows different areas of the same product to have different solubility characteristics tailored to local functional requirements.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables the creation of fibers with tailored solubility profiles, improving chemical compatibility, absorbency, and controlled release characteristics, while promoting sustainable disposal by making fibers flushable and reducing microplastic formation.
Implementation Method 1
admixing the fiber and a hydrolysis agent solution to increase the degree of hydrolysis of at least a portion of the polymer in the fiber
Data Source
AI summary
A method of treating a fiber includes admixing a fiber comprising a polymer comprising at least one of a vinyl acetate moiety or a vinyl alcohol moiety and having a degree of hydrolysis less than 100% with a hydrolysis agent solution to form a mixture so as to increase the degree of hydrolysis of at least a portion of the fiber.