Teijin Fibers Limited

Mie Kamiyama

Miyuki Numata

Nobuyuki Yamamoto

Hironori Goda

Tamio Yamamoto

Koichi Iohara

The method of producing an islands-in-sea type composite spun fiber having an island component diameter of 1 &#x3bc;m or less according to the present invention comprises drawing (superdrawing) with a total draw ratio of from 5 to 100 an undrawn islands-in-sea type composite spun fiber having been prepared by spinning at a spinning speed of from 100 to 1,000 m/min, at temperatures higher than the glass transition points of both the polymer forming the sea component and the polymer forming the island components of the composite spun fiber.

Method of producing islands-in-sea type composite spun fiber

The islands-in-sea type composite fiber of the present invention comprises a sea part containing an easily soluble polymer and 100 or more island parts containing a hardly soluble polymer, per fiber. In a cross-sectional profile of the composite fiber, each of the island parts has a thickness in the range of from 10 to 1,000 nm and the intervals between the island parts adjacent to each other are 500 nm or less. The islands-in-sea type composite fiber is produced by melt spinning the sea part polymer and the island part polymer mentioned above through a spinneret for an islands-in-sea type composite fiber and taking up the spun fiber at a speed of 400 to 6,000 m/min. Dissolution and removal of the sea part polymer from the composite fiber gives a group of fine fibers having a thickness of 10 to 1,000 rim and useful for clothing, industrial materials and other applications.

Islands-in-sea type composite fiber and process for producing same

The islands-in-sea type composite fiber of the present invention comprises a sea part containing an easily soluble polymer and 100 or more island parts containing a hardly soluble polymer, per fiber. In a cross-sectional profile of the composite fiber, each of the island parts has a thickness in the range of from 10 to 1,000 nm and the intervals between the island parts adjacent to each other are 500 nm or less. The islands-in-sea type composite fiber is produced by melt spinning the sea part polymer and the island part polymer mentioned above through a spinneret for an islands-in-sea type composite fiber and taking up the spun fiber at a speed of 400 to 6,000 m/min. Dissolution and removal of the sea part polymer from the composite fiber gives a group of fine fibers having a thickness of 10 to 1,000 nm and useful for clothing, industrial materials and other applications.

Islands-in-sea type composite fiber and process for producing the same

A novel conjugate fiber with a fine and an optical interference color-generating function, suitable for application in product fields which require aesthetic qualities, the fiber being characterized by having a structure wherein an alkali-soluble polymer with a thickness of 2.0 &#x3bc;m or greater surrounds an alternating laminated section with a thickness of no greater than 10 &#x3bc;m, comprising alkali-insoluble polymer layers with different refractive indices alternately laminated parallel to the long axis direction of the flat cross-section, wherein the ratio (SP/SP) between the solubility parameter value of the higher refractive index polymer (SP) and the solubility parameter value of the lower refractive index polymer (SP) is in the range of 0.8&#x2013;1.1.

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Matsuyama, Japan

Mie Kamiyama