Spandex, known as polyurethane fiber, is finely woven from multiple filaments. Usually, the fineness of each spandex filament is 10D, or even 20D. This design makes the strips more uniform and reduces the possibility of overlap.
1. Advantages and disadvantages of spandex
Spandex, a highly elastic fiber, is known for its excellent strength, which can even reach 2 to 3 times that of latex. Despite its finer density, spandex performs well in acid and alkali resistance, sweat resistance, dry cleaning resistance and wear resistance. However, just as everything in the world has its two sides, spandex also has some shortcomings. Due to its relatively poor hygroscopicity, spandex is usually not used alone in practical applications, but mixed with other fibers. In addition, spandex's heat resistance is relatively poor, which limits its application range to a certain extent.
2. In-depth analysis of the structure and performance of spandex
Spandex, a highly elastic fiber, is not only famous for its excellent strength, but also has a unique charm in structure and performance. Its molecular structure characteristics give it excellent elasticity, making it a step further on the basis of latex silk strength, reaching an amazing level of 2~3 times. Although spandex has shown excellent performance in acid and alkali resistance, sweat resistance, dry cleaning resistance and wear resistance, we must also face up to its relatively poor hygroscopicity. Therefore, in practical applications, spandex is usually not made alone, but is cleverly mixed with other fibers to achieve better use results. At the same time, we also need to pay attention to its heat resistance limitations, which to a certain extent defines the scope of application of spandex.
1. Outstanding strength: Among various elastic fibers, spandex fiber has the best strength performance and is firmly in the top two of the elastic fibers.
2. Amazing elasticity: The elastic extension of spandex fiber is as high as 400%~800%, far exceeding nylon elastic yarn, and the resilience is as high as more than 95%, making it a leader among elastic fibers.
3. Soft silk: Due to the small elastic modulus of spandex, its silk is softer, which provides great convenience for various textile applications.
4. Excellent heat resistance: In spandex fiber, due to the presence of amino bonds between molecules and accompanied by crystallinity, it has excellent heat resistance, far exceeding many other fiber materials.
5. Abrasion resistance: Spandex fiber exhibits good chemical resistance, especially its oil and solvent resistance.
6. Dyeability: Although it is difficult to color spandex alone, if it is combined with cotton fiber, not only is it relatively easy to color, but the color fixation effect is often very good. In addition, polyester amine fiber can easily accept a variety of dyes, especially acid dyes, disperse dyes and chromium-containing dyes, which can create a variety of fabric colors.
7. Differences between spandex and rubber
① Rubber filament: Although it has great elasticity, its rebound speed is relatively slow and its strength is low. To enhance its elasticity, the thickness of the monofilament needs to be increased, but this may not be applicable to light and thin fabrics.
② Spandex filament: It has a fast rebound speed and high strength, and is more suitable for making light and thin fabrics. These characteristics are derived from the polymer structure of spandex filament. In the block copolymer structure, low molecular weight polyester or polyether chains act as soft segments, which are easy to deform, allowing the fiber to be easily stretched and deformed, thereby giving it excellent resilience and strength.
3. The microscopic world of spandex
Spandex usually appears as white opaque matte filaments, and the shape of its cross section varies depending on the production process, revealing an interesting microscopic world for people.
1. Under the dry spinning process, spandex yarns have a circular or elliptical cross section and a regular shape.
2. Spandex yarns produced by wet spinning technology have a thick cross section and an irregular shape, similar to leaves.
3. The melt spinning process mainly produces monofilaments and multifilaments with circular cross sections.
[Xiao Zong] The high elasticity and excellent resilience of spandex are derived from its special polymer block copolymer structure.
4. Lycra
Spandex is usually not used alone, but is blended with other fabrics. Among many applications, core-spun yarn with spandex as the core yarn is the most common, which is also called elastic core-spun yarn. Its unique characteristics are:
1. Excellent touch and appearance, derived from natural fibers, excellent moisture absorption.
2. Only 1-10% of spandex filaments are needed to create high-quality stretch yarn.
3. The elastic range is flexible and adjustable, about 10%-20%, to meet the needs of different products.
In addition, spandex has various application forms. In addition to core-spun yarn, there are also representative combinations of Lycra such as spandex bare yarn, covered yarn and twisted yarn. It is worth mentioning that Bayer Company in Germany has successfully developed spandex yarn in 1937, and DuPont's Lycra brand in the United States stands out for its excellent elastic performance, and the extension length of the fiber yarn can reach 4 to 6 times the original length. In the field of spandex, Lycra spandex has firmly established its first-class throne of high-quality products with its excellent quality. Lycra fabrics therefore also have unique elasticity and durability.
1. Full of elasticity, easy and comfortable wearing experience.
2. The fabric is soft and crisp, with excellent drape.
3. The fabric is flat and smooth, with excellent wrinkle resistance.
4. It absorbs moisture quickly and dries, and feels very smooth.
5. Excellent dimensional stability and easy to care for.
In addition, modal fiber has other excellent properties, making it unique in the fabric field.
Biofunctional (big bio) fiber-a new choice for green textiles
In the fields of "food, housing, and transportation", the concept of green, natural, and healthy is becoming more and more popular. However, in the textile field, this concept has not yet been fully reflected. Despite this, as consumers' requirements for textile safety, comfort, and washing resistance continue to increase, chemical functional fibers are gradually being replaced by green and healthy biofunctional (big bio) fibers. This new type of fiber not only comes from natural plants, but also performs well in environmental protection and health, and is expected to become a new favorite in the textile field in the future.
5. Biofunctional (big bio) fiber
The rise of this functional bionic fiber represents the in-depth development of biotechnology in the textile field. It has not only expanded its application from the "food" field such as food, medicine, and health products to the "clothing" field, but also indicates that humans will be able to make more comprehensive use of biotechnology products in "clothing". In the era of "health everywhere", through textiles, people will pay more attention to the impact of health factors and achieve all-round, cross-time, and multi-angle health management.
In order to meet the diversified needs of the textile industry for fibers, Baicao innovatively launched Baicao® fiber. This fiber cleverly combines modern textile technology with biotechnology, not only inherits the excellent properties of traditional fibers, but also incorporates native biological functions. With its industrial advantages, Baicao has created a new situation of fiber composite properties and provided the market with more excellent professional choices.
At present, Baicao fiber has been widely used in many textile fields such as fashion clothing, home underwear, baby clothes, industrial textiles, and home textiles. With its excellent product performance, Baicao fiber has won wide recognition in the market. At the same time, the company also serves as a member of the China Textile Engineering Society, an observer unit of the Basic Standards Branch of the National Technical Committee for Textile Standardization, and the director enterprise of the National Eco-Functional Fiber Technology R&D Center, fully demonstrating its leadership and influence in the industry.
