Enhancement of microvoids in acrylic fibers

The present work is concerned with the spinning of two series of blend fibers containing acrylic copolymer (PAC) and small amount of secondary polymer, such as polyvinyl acetate (PVAc), polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile-styrene (AS) and acrylonitrile-vinyl acetate (AVAc) copolymers. The blend acrylic fibers we developed have a microporous structure that renders them highly water retentive and confers several other excellent properties. Some factors were further studied that greatly influence the microporous volume and micropore size distribution, such as compatibility and phase separation of the polymer blends, the composition and sequence distribution of the secondary copolymers, and fiber formation conditions.