Facile fabrication of stain‐resistant poly(lactic acid)/silicone powder fibers: Comprehensive structure characterization and performance evaluation

Abstract

AbstractDue to their eco‐friendly and functional attributes, the development of stain‐resistant poly(lactic acid) (PLA) fibers offers a multitude of benefits, including enhanced sustainability, ease of maintenance and expanded application fields. To investigate the feasibility of facile fabrication of stain‐resistant poly(lactic acid) (PLA) fibers, hydrophobic PLA fibers were produced using a scalable melt spinning technique employing silicone powder as the hydrophobic functional material. The influence of silicone powder content on the morphology and crystal structure of PLA fibers was investigated using different length scale characterization methods, including scanning electron microscopy and wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction. The relationships between the mechanical performance, hydrophobicity, and structure of the PLA fibers were established. The results showed that the synergistic effect of the micro/nanoconvex structure on the fiber surface created by silicon dioxide (SiO2) in silicone powder and the low surface energy of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) can considerably improve the hydrophobic functionality of the fibers. Compared with that of PLA fibers, the contact angle of hydrophobic PLA fibers increases from 67.3° to 87.6° with the addition of 3 wt% silicone powder. Furthermore, although silicone powder may accelerate PLA crystallization nucleation, it does not increase the crystallite size. When the silicone powder content is increased to 4 wt%, the mesophase fraction of the hydrophobic PLA fibers increases from 9.3% to 13.7%. This is the primary structural factor that allows the fiber to maintain its good tenacity. The tenacity of these hydrophobic PLA fibers is approximately 4.5 cN/dtex, which has excellent practical value.